Let us pause for a minute and reflect on how the Blessed Virgin Mary was given the grace of being Immaculate not because she said yes to Christ at the Annunciation but rather because of her Immaculate Conception in the womb of her mother, St. Anne. The Lord prepared her for the critical and vital role she plays in Salvation History by protecting her from original sin.
Today we recall the great Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this feast day, we recognize that from Mary’s conception, she was protected from original sin. Blessed Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8, 1854. In this declaration, he stated, “The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”
In today’s Gospel reading, we read how the Angel Gabriel says to Mary, “Rejoice, oh highly favored! The Lord is with you.” These words must have invoked such a deep and profound wonder. But the Angel continued with, “Mary, do not be afraid you have won God’s favor.” By responding “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let what you have said be done to me”, Mary activated her role in Salvation History through the powerful example of complete and free cooperation with God. How can we say, “Yes” to the Lord in our own lives?
The Lord offers us what we need to endure both the joyful and sorrowful aspects of our life; our life is meant to be lived in the state of grace and with grace to guide us and lead us. Without grace, we miss beautiful encounters, moments, and heavenly gifts that we need to be united with God forever in heaven.
May we also invite Mary, the Mother of God, to lead us closer to Christ and live out God’s will through her intercession and prayers. Today let us not only unite our hearts by attending Holy Mass in honor of our Lady but also give God our hearts so that we can follow the path of Mary and say yes to Christ.
Daily Reading
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Reading 1 Zechariah 2:14-17 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD. Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on…
Saint of the Day
St. Juan Diego
St. Juan Diego
Feast date: Dec 09
On Dec. 9, Roman Catholics celebrate St. Juan Diego, the indigenous Mexican Catholic convert whose encounter with the Virgin Mary began the Church’s devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe.In 1474, 50 years before receiving the name Juan Diego at his baptism, a boy named Cuauhtlatoatzin — “singing eagle” — was born in the Anahuac Valley of present-day Mexico. Though raised according to the Aztec pagan religion and culture, he showed an unusual and mystical sense of life even before hearing the Gospel from Franciscan missionaries.In 1524, Cuauhtlatoatzin and his wife converted and entered the Catholic Church. The farmer now known as Juan Diego was committed to his faith, often walking long distances to receive religious instruction. In December of 1531, he would be the recipient of a world-changing miracle.On Dec. 9, Juan Diego was hurrying to Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. But the woman he was heading to church to celebrate came to him instead.In the native Aztec dialect, the radiant woman announced herself as the “ever-perfect holy Mary, who has the honor to be the mother of the true God.”“I am your compassionate Mother, yours and that of all the people that live together in this land,” she continued, “and also of all the other various lineages of men.”She asked Juan Diego to make a request of the local bishop. “I want very much that they build my sacred little house here” — a house dedicated to her son Jesus Christ, on the site of a former pagan temple, that would “show him” to all Mexicans and “exalt him” throughout the world.She was asking a great deal of a native farmer. Not surprisingly, his bold request met with skepticism from Bishop Juan de Zumárraga. But Juan Diego said he would produce proof of the apparition, after he finished tending to his uncle whose death seemed imminent.Making his way to church on Dec. 12, to summon a priest for his uncle, Juan Diego again encountered the Blessed Virgin. She promised to cure his uncle and give him a sign to display for the bishop. On the hill where they had first met he would find roses and other flowers, though it was winter.Doing as she asked, he found the flowers and brought them back to her. The Virgin Mary then placed the flowers inside his tilma, the traditional cloak-like garment he had been wearing. She told him not to unwrap the tilma containing the flowers until he had reached the bishop.When he did, Bishop Zumárraga had his own encounter with Our Lady of Guadalupe – through the image of her that he found miraculously imprinted on the flower-filled tilma. The Mexico City basilica that now houses the tilma has become, by some estimates, the world’s most-visited Catholic shrine.The miracle that brought the Gospel to millions of Mexicans also served to deepen Juan Diego’s own spiritual life. For many years after the experience, he lived a solitary life of prayer and work in a hermitage near the church where the image was first displayed. Pilgrims had already begun flocking to the site by the time he died on Dec. 9, 1548, the 17th anniversary of the first apparition.Blessed John Paul II beatified St. Juan Diego in 1990, and canonized him in 2002.