To the Band of Brothers: December 8, 2022

 

So, following my grandmother’s logic, it only makes sense that during these weeks of Advent, as we prepare for the birth of Jesus, we should also focus some of our attention on the one who made it happen… Mary, the blessed Mother. We can never underestimate the importance of her presence in the whole thing. Just under 15 years of age, this young girl from Nazareth held the salvation of the whole world in her hands when she was given the choice to be or not to be the mother of God. I can only imagine how the Trinity and the angels in heaven held their collected breaths as they awaited the response to the angel Gabriel’s proposal. It was Mary’s fiat, her yes, that greenlighted the salvation of mankind.

 

This is one of the reasons it is so important to celebrate today, December 8th, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, when Mary was conceived in the womb of her mother (Ana was her name, by the way) without sin. It makes sense because nine months from now, on September 8th, we will celebrate the birth of Mary (momma Ana should expect a call from my grandmother). But it is important because during Advent we have to make sure to give Mary her just desserts. It is not just that she was conceived and born sinless, while capable of sinning, she chose not to throughout all of her life. Some might think she is superhuman because of that. Maybe she was one of the X-Men and it was her mutant power. But actually, she wasn’t superhuman, just human as intended by God. Mary simply lived and expressed what God intended for all men and women from the very beginning.

 

When Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 (by the way, the only other important event to take place that year was the founding of Belen), he instituted a belief that had been in the Church for centuries already. That belief was the conviction that the natural and intended condition of the human person is good and that sin is a man-made phenomenon not desired by our Creator, post-Genesis. The Immaculate Conception is the belief that “nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

 

As the day of Jesus’ birth approaches, don’t forget to send a few prayers to the one who made it all possible. Don’t forget to say thank you to Mary – our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, our Lady of Belen.