Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 12/08/21 Immaculate Conception

Episode Date: December 9, 2021

Homily from the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. God gives exactly what is needed for whatever He has called us to. The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of our Lady affirms the fact that Mary was preserved from all stain of Original Sin through the merits of her Son’s future life, death, and resurrection. Mass Readings from December 8, 2021: Genesis 3:9-15, 20 Psalms 98:1, 2-4Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 Luke 1:26-38

So one of the things as we celebrate this feast, the feast solemnity of our lady of the Immaculate Conception is what is the Immaculate Conception and what's the purpose of the Immaculate Conception? I think those are really important because sometimes we can get it in our heads that just like, these are just random kind of celebrations, random doctrines we have about our lady. What is the doctrine? And the doctrine is this, that Mary, from the first moment of her conception, was preserved from all state of original sin by the merits of her son's future life, death, and resurrection. So we heard in the first reading from Genesis chapter 3.

Here is Adam and Eve. They're in the garden. They are sinless. They're even scripture says they're children of God. They walk with God. They have anything about a relationship with God. But at one point what happens is they make a choice and it breaks the world. They make a choice and it breaks their relationship with God, breaks their relationship with each other, and it breaks their relationship even breaks their own hearts. And so this is the world into which you and I are born. this world in which we have no access to the Father.

He keeps reaching out to us, but we have no way to restore that relationship. Even our relationships with each other are broken and even in our own hearts. Our hearts are broken. We don't even do what we want to do and we keep doing what we don't want to do. We find ourselves in this place. And so what does God do? Well, God's plan in the fullness of time, that he restores our relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, right?

that God, Jesus reconciles this unbreakable gap between humanity and God. God, God man, Jesus Christ, reconciles that broken relationship. He bridges the unbridgedable gap between humanity and God. Not only does he let us have a relationship with him again, he actually restores it makes it possible for us to have a relationship with each other in a full sense,

relationships that have kindness and are dominated by joy and love and reconciliation, forgiveness, he also makes it possible for us to have whole hearts again. This is what Jesus Christ has done for every one of us. He's made it possible for us to be restored. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is that from the first moment of Mary's conception, she was preserved from that division between her and God. She is preserved from the division that every one of us experiences between us, each other, and she was also preserved from that broken heart that all of us have, right? We have a dimming of our

intellect, we have a weakening of our will, we are attracted to sin, that Mary was preserved from all three of those things, as well as preserved from the broken relationship, as well as preserved from the broken relationship with the Lord. Now, people ask, well, where do you get this idea? Where do you get this truth? Well, one of the places we get it is from Luke's gospel today. In Luke's gospel, we have a couple things. One is, at one point, the angel Gabriel comes to Mary. He doesn't say, hail Mary. We say that. He says, hail full of grace, which is the Greek word caracotomeni, which basically means like it's full to abundance. So here's me, super lazy when it comes to washing dishes.

So maybe you used this example before, you ever have like soap in a glass? And rather than like rinse it out and dump it out, rinse it out and dump it out, you just like hold it under the faucet and let it like keep rolling. You ever did this? So that's what it's what kerikato mene is. It's that it's so full, there's no room for anything else. So there's dirt in a glass and you just keep holding it under the faucet. At some point, it'll have no more dirt and just be full of water.

Mary, in this word that Gabriel uses to address her, calls her kheritometke kharitomei, which essentially means overflowing with grace. There's no room for anything else, like sin. That's one little clue. But the other clue is the whole story. We read the story of Genesis chapter 3, right? And what do you have?

You have a man without sin. You have a woman without sin. You have the old Adam and the old Eve. And this angel of light, right? Lucifer, is the light bearer. This angel of light speaks to the woman without sin, words that cause her to disbelieve and disobey. She hands on that disbelief and disobedience to the man without sin,

and they hand down disbelief and disobedience to the rest of us. That's how it goes, right? Angel of light to the sinless woman, to the sinless man, disobedience and disbelief to humanity. Well, in Luke chapter 1, we heard this reversal of this story where we know that Paul calls Jesus the new Adam. So if there's an old Adam and a new Adam, and a new Adam, there's an old Eve.

Is there possibly a new Eve? And the church has said, yes, there is a new Eve. Just like the old Adam was sinless, the new Adam is sinless. Just like the old Eve was sinless, the new Eve was sinless. Why? Because in Luke chapter 1, we have the story of an angel of light. Gabriel speaks words to this woman without sin that caused her to believe and obey. And she hands on that belief and obedience to the man conceived in her womb, who then lives a whole life of obedience.

belief and hands-on the fruits of that. So we have Adam and Eve who are the fall team. We have Mary and Jesus who are the redeemed team. And it makes so much sense, right? I think that seems to make so much sense that here is God who allowed us to choose to break the world that he brings in a human being and allows them to choose to redeem the world. People ask the question they said was, is that necessary that Mary had to be without sin and the answer is no. It's not necessary that Mary had to be without sin. It is fitting that Mary would be without sin. Why? Because God had given her a particular task. And this is the big question that

comes up to all of our hearts. The big question is, well, okay, that's great for Mary. If Jesus can preserve her from all state of original sin by the merits of his future death and resurrection, then why doesn't he just preserve us from the state of original sin at our conceptions? Why doesn't he just apply that to us in the moment of our conception? And the answer, I guess I have to say, is I don't know. But here's my guess. What we do know is that God gives every person exactly what they need for whatever task he's called them to.

God gives every person exactly what they need to accomplish the vocation, to accomplish the task, to accomplish the mission that he has called them to. And so here's Mary's mission, Mary's task, was to say yes, in freedom, just like Eve said no in freedom. And so God gave her everything she needed to fulfill that task. just in the same way that God will give you everything you need to fulfill your task. Because the truth of the matter is, on this feast, this solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we're reminded not only of what God has done in Mary's life,

but also we're reminded of the fact that he wants to do something in your life too. There's this man his name, St. John Henry Newman. St. John Henry Newman was a convert to the Catholic faith in his 40s, I think he was 45, he was an Anglican priest for a bunch of years and became Catholic. He was incredibly influential. He lived an incredibly painful life. He suffered in the depth of his heart. He suffered rejection from friends.

He suffered rejection. You know, when he was Anglican, he was like a leading star in the church. When he became Catholic, all his Anglican friends abandoned him. And all the Catholics were suspicious of this guy who just, you know, became Catholic. And he found himself incredibly lonely and incredibly hurting. But he knew he wasn't abandoned. And he knew he was going to be gone. given everything that he needed to accomplish the task that God had set before him.

At one point he wrote this prayer and it used to be a prayer that we'd pray all the time here because this is the Newman Center right so we'd have this prayer and we'd say it virtually every day but his prayer is this he says God has created me to do him some definitive service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.

He has not created me for nothing. I shall do good. I shall do his work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it if I do but keep his commandments. Therefore, I will trust him.

Whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. Therefore, I will trust him. Whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I'm in sickness, may my sickness serve him. In perplexity, my perplexity may serve him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve him.

He does nothing in vain. He knows what he is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate. Make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, he knows what he is about. God has created you for some definitive service.

He has a work for you that cannot be done by any other. He created Mary for some definitive service. This yes, and not just the yes in this moment, but the yes of her whole life, handed on belief and obedience to the Son of God who what he did handed on obedience and belief and reconciliation to us. God has called you to some definitive service, just like he called Mary.

to some definitive service. And our belief, our proclamation, our absolute conviction is that he will give you everything you need no matter what it is to accomplish this definitive task no matter what it is.