One of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s most significant titles is the Immaculate Conception which we celebrate on December 8. She revealed this title in Lourdes when she appeared to Saint Bernadette Soubirous on March 25, 1858.

Two other events signifcant to the Immacualte Concpetion:

1. Sixty years ago, Pope Saint Paul VI solemnly closed the Second Vatican Council on this date.
2. The Immaculate Conception is the principal patron of the United States, declared by the US bishops on May 17, 1846.

Mary is the Immaculate Conception. Here are three ways we can understand the Blessed Virgin Mary that help give proper worship to Jesus.

First, Mary teaches us that she is the fulfillment of all God’s promises. Mary is Daughter Zion. In her is the hope of all of Israel. The New Testament bursts open with one word: Rejoice! Mary must rejoice for the Lord is with her. Early traditions portrayed God as dwelling in the womb of Israel. In Mary, God finds his habitation.

Second, Mary is what we are to become: a disciple and a saint. Mary is the mirror of the Church. This is portrayed best in the image below. A mirror is placed at her feet under the trampled serpent.

As a mirror for the Church, Mary calls us to be what she is, the habitation of God. The more we become a home for God, the more we are our true selves. God does not reveal himself in abstractions, but in a concrete way. He desires to live in your heart.

Finally, Mary models a life totally given to God. Mary is filled with grace. Grace can often be used as Christian jargon, something like “superpower qualities” given to someone living a proper Christian life. Do not miss the point in this expression. Mary is filled with grace, said another way, Mary is filled with God.

Grace is relational. Salvation has come to us because God gave himself completely through Mary. God receives his flesh and blood through Mary as she was completely, boldly, and limitlessly open to him. Here’s a beautiful quote regarding this sentiment and today’s Gospel on the Annunciation:

Christianity originates in a story of mutual loving endeavor between a woman and God. The Annunciation was not an act of seduction but a free invitation to a woman to participate in God’s saving action … God waited while Mary deliberated. The history of the world hung in the balance as a young girl considered the options before her. Then she said, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me.’ And she stepped into the whirlwind – Tina Beattie, Rediscovering Mary, 21-23.

So here’s the takeaway: Mary said yes to God’s will because she is Daughter Zion, the mirror of the Church, and a woman filled with grace. She was able to say yes with a generous heart because her life was completely open to God.

If we have lives that recognize God’s loving presence then decisions that must be made are determined with docility and a complete openness to the direction of God’s will.

We are invited to ask Mary to give us her heart. After all, no one loved Jesus as perfectly as his mother.

Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta prayed it best:

Mary, Mother of Jesus, give me your heart so beautiful, so pure, so immaculate, so full of love and humility that I may be able to receive Jesus in the Bread of Life, love Him as you loved Him, and serve Him as you served Him in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor. Amen.

Everything we say of Mary, we say completely of Christ. We say that Christ is the fulfillment of all God’s promises, Christ calls us to be a mirror, imaging his burning heart to the world, and Christ is the complete yes to the Father’s will.

In Mary, we witness the nearness of God. Let us celebrate this nearness as we journey to Christmas.