Today's readings - on this beautiful feast - contrast the shame that the sin of Adam and Eve brought to humanity with the honor of humanity through the faithful yes, the "yes" of Adam and Eve, the "yes" of Eve, the "yes" of Adam and Eve, the "yes" of Eve and the "yes" of Adam and Eve. fiatof Mary. This feast speaks to us of God's victory over sin, which, in a mysterious way, began in advance in the Blessed Virgin Mary. But all because of God's grace. That is why today's readings speak to us about the "new song". of God, of the "wonders" that he has made and of his blessing "with all kinds of spiritual blessings." in Christ.
All mankind had been corrupted by the fall of our first parents, as he forcefully points out in Psalm 14: "All go astray equally obstinate, there is not one who works well.". All of her somehow shared Adam's shame and could say with him to God: "I heard the noise of you in the garden, I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid.". We all, like Adam, try to blame the woman; and this woman, Eve, certainly shares a large part of the blame: "The woman whom thou gavest me to be my companion, she offered me of the fruit, and I did eat.".
But to prepare the way for the Holy One, God made man who would undo Satan's work, God prepared a holy woman who would listen to God and not to the devil, a woman who would humble herself before God and not rise up, like Eve, in proud rebellion against him. Adam and Eve wanted "to be like God". Maria can only say: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." They tried to escape God, disobeying his will. Mary obediently submitted to his will: "Be it done unto me according to thy word."
There are two ways to be saved: by healing or by prevention. We can be cured of a disease, but it is much better to live a healthy life that saves us from falling into that disease. The Church came to understand that, although we all need the salvation of Christ, Mary was saved in a superior way, by prevention: she was freed, from the very moment of her conception in the womb of her mother Anne, from any stain of sin. And this, in function of her condition as Mother of God. As the one who was to receive in her womb the Most Holy God made man, as the new Ark of the Covenant, she was preserved from all sin.
In stark contrast to the "blame game" of Adam and Eve - having proudly risen up against God, they proudly try to shirk their own responsibility - we see Mary's humility. In her the words of Christ are realized: "He who humbles himself shall be exalted." (Mt 23:12). While pride stains everything, there is something "immaculate" in humility: it cleanses, purifies, preserves from corruption. The Church teaches us through these texts that, although we will never be able to share fully in Mary's holiness, we can at least approach her by trying to share in her humility.
The homily on the readings of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa small one-minute reflection for these readings.
