Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (December 8, 2025)

The Solemnities of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption celebrate Catholic belief that Mary was conceived without sin. That belief is predicated on the foundational doctrine of the Incarnation, that God became human.  If we consider that sin is the polar opposite of God, the ultimate separation from God, then it theologically follows that God could only take on flesh and become one of us by means of a pure sinless vessel, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Catholics have believed this from the early days of the Church, but the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was only proclaimed as dogma in 1854 by Pope Pius IX in his apostolic constitution, “Ineffable God.”

The Virgin Mary, at the moment of conception, was preserved in advance from all defilement of original sin by a unique privilege of grace in view of the merits of Jesus Christ.

Discussion on theology tends to make people’s heads spin but it is important as the place where the Church’s greatest minds over history have reflected on divine revelation as handed down to us from Scripture and tradition. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception is perhaps more readily grasped as the affirmation of Mary’s total surrender to God’s will – a surrender that, humanly speaking, made the Incarnation possible. Mary is our model for this holy surrender, as seen in today’s Gospel from Luke.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.”

Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God . . . for nothing is impossible with God.”

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” 

There is an empowering human dimension to divine wisdom. God does not force salvation upon us. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is freedom of the will. We are free to choose or reject God. As seen in the First Reading from Genesis, Adam and Eve made a regretful choice, but that choice for sin was turned on its head by Mary’s good choice to accept God’s will.  Adam and Eve said “No.”  Mary said “Yes. Let it be done unto me according to your word.”

This is not an easy prayer to make. The Lord Jesus himself prayed his mother’s prayer during his moments of doubt at the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before he died: “Not my will, but yours be done.” Mary and her Son surrendered their lives to God in total trust. They challenge us to do the same.