“Giving heed to the loving call of our Blessed Mother and being fervent and zealous to lead a holier and immaculate life, pleasing to God!”
(Based on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother)
A priest went to visit a violent criminal who was condemned to death…
… hoping to prepare his soul to die well.
But the man wouldn’t even talk to him.
The priest pleaded and begged him to get reconciled with God…
… but the man’s heart was highly closed!
Finally, as a last resort, the priest entrusted himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary and then said to the criminal, “Before I leave, will you grant me one little favor?”
The man, with an intention to get rid of the bothersome priest, said he would.
“Let us then,” the priest responded, “Say one Hail Mary.”
So, together they began to pray that simple prayer…
… “Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with You…”
They hadn’t even got through the first sentence when the criminal turned pale…
… and his voice started to shake.
The priest to continued the Hail Mary…
… and as he finished tears started to flow from the man’s face, and he fell on his knees at the priest’s feet.
As soon as the prayer was done, the man asked to make confession.
He then confessed his sins with a great sense of repentance!
The words, “Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you…”
… had ignited the spark of repentance in him!
Yes, that’s the power of the intercession of Mother Mary!
She is the refuge of sinners
Her life of Faithfulness to God’s Grace, is an inspiration to all of us…
… to live an Immaculate and Holy Life!
Today, we celebrate the Solemn Feast of the beginning of the faithful life of the Most Beautiful and Loved Creation of God: The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother.
Sin is part of every human life.
St Paul testifies to this fact when he says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23)
By themselves, human beings are incapable of freeing themselves from sin.
Therefore…
… Everyone needs a Saviour
… Everyone needs a Redeemer
But God, in His infinite wisdom had thought of the most excellent way of redeeming humanity.
Salvation was to be accomplished not through any magical power
Salvation was to be brought about not through some superhuman force
Rather, the salvation of humanity was to be won by a Human Himself – the most perfect Human.
This perfect Human deserved and required the most sinless of all wombs for being born
This perfect Human demanded and necessitated the most immaculate of all lives to be nurtured
Thus, God in His perfect wisdom, applied the Grace of Redemption and Salvation to the One He had chosen – Mary of Nazareth.
Therefore…
Mary is the first recipient of the Redemption of Christ!
Mary is the first fruit of the Salvation, won by Christ!
This is the story of the Immaculate Conception of Mother Mary.
The Holy Scripture testifies to this Immaculate nature of our Blessed Mother through the words of Angel Gabriel to Her, “Hail, FULL of Grace!” (Lk 1:28)
The Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother points to Her sinlessness, Her being full of Grace, Her perfection in holiness and Her absolute adherence to the Will of God.
“Yes, Lord… Thy Will be done” (Lk 1:38) was a chorus that She sang in all the moments of life!
Today, on this Feast day, this our Blessed Mother invites and exhorts us, also…
… to make a choice for God, always, and lead a sinless life
… to always opt for God alone, at all times, and being immaculate in life
… to unswervingly be faithful to God’s Will, and thus seek to be perfect in life
The challenge is great… the efforts required are radical.
But we are not left alone in this “pursuit of holiness” (1 Cor 9:24)
Our Blessed Mamma – the Beautiful Lady in blue and white – grace in holiness and immaculate in love – holds our hands and tells us:
“My Little Child, I am with you!
I love you, and together, we shall walk in this exciting path of Holiness…
… towards My Son and Your Brother…
… towards Our Saviour Jesus!”
Yes, let us give heed to the loving call of our Blessed Mother
And be fervent and zealous to lead a holier and immaculate life, pleasing to God…
… as we pray, “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with You…!”
Today, December 08, 2021, we also conclude the Year of St Joseph.
Through this year, we have been very much reminded of the Patronage of this Great “silent worker” in the awesome work of Salvation
St Joseph, was honoured to be sharing the most intimate physical presence with the two Holiest Persons of this world – Jesus, the Son of God and Mary, the Immaculate Mother.
Let us continue to seek his intercession, be inspired by his holiness and learn from him especially…
… the love for Jesus and Mary
… the virtue of humility and chastity
Happy Feast of our Immaculate Mamma!
Greetings of the conclusion of the Year of St Joseph!
ALL GLORY AND HONOUR TO THEIR ETERNAL SON AND OUR SAVIOUR, JESUS!
God Bless! Live Jesus!
📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
CHRIST’S FAITHFUL – HIERARCHY, LAITY, CONSECRATED LIFE
“The Christian faithful are those who, inasmuch as they have been incorporated in Christ through Baptism, have been constituted as the people of God…
… for this reason, since they have become sharers in Christ’s priestly, prophetic, and royal office in their own manner, they are called to exercise the mission which God has entrusted to the Church to fulfill in the world, in accord with the condition proper to each one.”
“In virtue of their rebirth in Christ there exists among all the Christian faithful a true equality with regard to dignity and the activity whereby all cooperate in the building up of the Body of Christ in accord with each one’s own condition and function (CCC # 871-872)
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