Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (not to be confused with another mysterious and miraculous event, the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus). The Immaculate Conception is about how God acted in an extraordinary way in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so that from even the first moment of her own conception, she was “preserved immune from all stains of Original sin.”
The Immaculate Conception does not mean that Christ’s Mother did not need a Savior or that she somehow saved herself, in fact it means the opposite. Christ saved her in an extraordinary way and gave her a holiness that she did not achieve for herself. He did this for her, for the sake of her mission – a mission that only she would bear.
This gift of holiness is what the Immaculate Conception is all about. The Immaculate Conception is not something easy, it is mysterious and miraculous, but is nevertheless a beautiful and extraordinary gift—a gift through which God in Christ acted to save his Mother, and us, from our sins.
Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us!
