Sunday, December 8th

On December 8th, we normally celebrate the feast of the
Immaculate Conception of Mary, the patronal feast of the United States.  This year we celebrate the 2nd Sunday of Advent and
the feast of Mary is moved to the following day.
 
I would like to look at the meaning of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, because it fits into the Advent theme of preparation, both preparation to celebrate the first coming of Christ and
preparation for His second coming by living in such a way as to help bring about the Kingdom of Peace and Love.
 
This feast celebrates that Mary was kept free of original sin from the moment of her conception AS A PREPARATION for being the Mother of God.  But I think the greatest thing about Mary was her willingness to say fiat voluntas tua, may your will be done. She didn’t know what would happen.  I’m sure it was scary and unnerving.  Yet, she trusted God enough to accept His will; as a result, Christ our Savior was born for our salvation.
 
By our baptism, we have been commissioned, as was Mary, to bring Christ into the world.  We do it by the way we live and interact with others.  The more we can bring love, peace, forgiveness, and gentleness into the world around us, the more we are preparing the way for the Kingdom of Peace and Love to take over our world.
 
As we celebrate the patronal feast of our country, let us pray to Mary that all citizens of our country can leave behind hatred and divisive language, growing in our ability to work together for the common good, especially for the most vulnerable.  That is preparing the way of the Lord, our task for Advent.  Immaculate Mary, help us prepare the way of your Son in our country and world.  May we bring unity and peace by all we say and do. Amen.
 
Church sign: We rise by lifting others.