Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Year A
Genesis 3:9–15, 20
Psalm 98:1, 2–3ab, 3cd–4
Ephesians 1:3–6, 11–12
Luke 1:26–38
The United States of America was dedicated to Mary under her title as the Immaculate Conception in 1792 by Bishop John Carroll, the first Roman Catholic bishop of the new nation. This consecration was renewed by the bishops of the United States at the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore in 1846 and has been renewed several times since then, most recently on May 1, 2020, amid the COVID crisis.
The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was formally declared in 1854. It speaks of the providence of God in the work of salvation. Mary was prepared beforehand, by virtue of the merits of her divine Son’s Passion, for the task that was entrusted to her. The Scriptures assigned to this feast remind us of human sin and of the power of grace to intervene and overcome its effects. They also highlight the gift of human freedom to make a choice for God.
Original sin did not touch Mary due to a special intervention of grace. She was free to make the choice for God that Adam and Eve failed to make: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Her response to the angel Gabriel opened human nature to the grace that had been rejected in the Garden of Paradise. Because of this, human nature itself has been redeemed, and all human beings are capable “once again” of a living relationship with God.
What God does for Mary and in Mary He continues to do for us through the same grace at work in her, the grace of Jesus Christ. While we must admit that we have been affected by original sin and that we have chosen our own will over God’s will in many ways, we can be confident that God still offers us the grace required to enable us to live in freedom.
Our nation has been a beacon of hope and promise for people from many parts of the world who have come to live here. It has also served as a reminder of the precious gift of freedom to nations and peoples who relate to us as a nation. We declare “liberty and justice for all.” Mary’s unique role in salvation history as the mother of the Redeemer is an example for us of the fruits of freedom that is exercised in cooperation with God’s will and with divine grace.
We recognize that “liberty” is not the same as “license.” True freedom is the capacity to be who God calls us to be. In our celebration of the perfect humanity given to Mary from the first moment of her conception and the acknowledgment of what she chose to do with her freedom, we find consolation and hope for ourselves and for our world.
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics throughout the world. For us, it is especially important to observe this obligation because it is our nation’s patronal feast. We put our faith into practice, and we pray that our nation might live up to its responsibility as an example of true freedom.
In the Prayer over the Offerings of the Mass of this feast, we pray: “Graciously accept the saving sacrifice which we offer you, O Lord, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and grant that, as we profess her, on account of your prevenient grace, to be untouched by any stain of sin, so, through her intercession, we may be delivered from all our faults.”
We acknowledge the privilege of Mary as an example of what God can do by His power and as One who will intercede for us, her children, so that we might live the salvation won for us by Jesus Christ her Son. “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.”