The Power of Grace (Solemnity of Immaculate Conception, Dec. 08)

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Introduction

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary which came to be when Pope St Pius IX declared it a dogma that our Lady by her conception was preserved free from all stain of original sin in view of her future task of being the mother of God. God granted her that singular grace of purity and stainlessness and she cooperated with it for our redemption. As we celebrate her today, we call to mind that we too have received God’s graces and are expected to cooperate with them for the fulfillment of God’s plans for us.


Reflection 

The Psalmist invites us to sing a new song to the Lord, for He has done wonders. The readings give us further reasons as to why we should sing a new song to the Lord for the wonders He has done. The first reading recounts the story of our creation and subsequent fall; that God created us in love and placed everything under our control. But then, because of the lust of the eyes and the cravings of the flesh, Eve, the first woman, allowed herself to be overpowered by the serpent (the devil) and thus sin and death came into the world. When God asked her, “What have you done?” She responded, “The serpent beguiled me, deceived me, overpowered me and I ate”. From that moment, humanity became powerless under the grips of sin; and thus wallowed in evil and sufferings waiting for the appointed time.

St Paul in Gal. 4:4 tells us that when the appointed time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law to redeem the subjects of the Law. It is that which has qualified this woman to be the mother of God that we celebrate today. That’s why the Psalmist is inviting us to sing in joy to God for He has worked wonders by equipping another woman (Mary) with His grace and preserving her from the stain of original sin that she may be a clean vessel to bear Jesus, His Son, from whom our salvation would come.

It is not as if Eve did not receive God’s grace. She received it but did not cooperate with it and was thus overpowered by the devil. But in the story of our redemption, Mary received God’s grace, cooperated with it and was able to overpower the devil and thus opened the floodgate of God’s grace and riches in Christ for all of us.

Just like Mary, St Paul in the second reading is reminding us that God has chosen us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him; and has bestowed on us His glorious grace in Christ the Beloved (cf. Eph. 1:4.6). As for God’s grace, we have it in abundance. But the question is: Do we cooperate with it? In our baptism, we received God’s grace; when we were confirmed, we received His grace; whenever we pray, listen to God’s word and receive Holy Communion, we receive His grace; in the sacraments, His grace abounds. In ordination, in religious profession, in the Sacrament of Matrimony, His graces overflow in us. Again, the question is: Do we cooperate with the grace? Considering the sinfulness of the world, we may think that God’s grace does not abound. St Paul tells us in Rom. 5:20 that as sin abounds, grace abounds more and more. Again, we ask ourselves: Do we cooperate with the abundant grace of God? We may say that God’s grace is not enough for us; and St Paul would prove us wrong by saying that God’s grace is ever sufficient for us (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9).

The grace of God is like a rainfall. Cooperating with God’s grace is like the efforts the farmer makes in his farmland. The rainfall requires the efforts of the farmer for the crops to receive it and grow. Mary, even though she received God’s grace, made efforts and cooperated with God’s grace and that paid off.

I just thought of what would be going on in Mary’s mind when she was told that she would bear a Son: someone who had never known man, and was not even thinking of ever knowing man. The angel reminded her: “Favored One, the woman full of grace, do not be afraid. God is with you”. That which appears to you as unthinkable and difficult is going to be made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit. For with God, nothing will be impossible. And Mary assented: “Let it be done to me according to your word”. And there was joy in the heavenly chambers when she made this assent.

The grace that we have received is not for decoration. It is imbued with power, for it comes from God. Grace is God acting in us. Moving in us, working in us, living in us; and it is only those who are aware of this that can exclaim with St Paul in Phil. 4:13 that “I can do all things through God who strengthens me”. If Elizabeth could conceive in her old age, if Mary could bear a son without the intervention of a man, then know that there’s immense power in God’s grace. Cooperate with it and you will reap the benefits!     




Comments

  1. Unknown8 December 2020 at 13:45

    May God's Grace Always be Sufficient for us🙏😊

    ReplyDelete

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