HOMILY – IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 2025
Theme: Who Is in
Charge?
[00] Forgetting Who Is in Charge — Adam and Eve
In our first
reading from Genesis, Adam and Eve hide in the Garden because they are afraid.
But they are not just afraid of punishment—they suddenly remember who is really
in charge. They realize that life is not meant to be lived on their terms but
on God’s terms.
Recently,
during our religious education classes downstairs, a small child recognized me
and said, “You’re the man from church!” I smiled and said, “Well, you do see me
in church… but I’m not
the man upstairs.” God is in charge.
Adam and Eve
forgot this.
Mary remembered it.
And today’s feast celebrates that difference.
[01] The Police Chief at the Door — A Sign of
Authority Changing Hands
A little while ago, I attended a retirement
celebration for the outgoing police chief in West Orange. It was a big
event—well over 200 people, a packed banquet hall, a full program, dignitaries,
speeches, applause.
What struck me most was something simple: the
guest of honor – the retiring police chief was working the front door.
He greeted people as they arrived, shook hands as they departed, and made sure
everyone felt welcomed. I actually never spoke to him inside the larger
crowd—there were too many people—but I did see him faithfully holding that
door.
It was a powerful image:
The man who once carried authority… now serving the guests.
The leader… now standing aside.
The one in charge… now handing over the reins.
Leadership changes.
Human authority passes from one person to another.
But God’s authority—God’s role in salvation—never shifts, never retires, never
diminishes.
And today’s feast tells us something even
more profound: our
salvation began not with human initiative but with God’s initiative.
[02] Why the Immaculate Conception Matters
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is
sometimes misunderstood as a complicated theological ornament. But at its
heart, it is very simple:
God is in charge of
salvation from the first moment.
That is why doctrine matters—not to elevate
Mary above Jesus or to turn her into some kind of goddess, but to remind us
that salvation is God’s project, God’s design, God’s grace.
Mary is the sign that God acts first. God
prepares first. God loves first.
As Ineffabilis
Deus says, Mary was preserved from original sin “in the first
instance of her conception” by a
singular grace—a grace that came from Christ, the
Savior, ahead of time.
Her Immaculate Conception shows us who
directs the story of salvation.
And it isn’t us.
[03] The Incarnation and Mary’s Immaculate
Beginning
Could God have saved us some other way?
Of course—God is not limited.
But God chose the Incarnation.
He chose to reveal Himself in the flesh.
He chose a real human mother for His Son.
And if Jesus is fully divine and fully
human—if He takes His human nature from Mary—then Mary must give Him human
nature untouched by sin, a humanity capable of carrying divinity itself.
Just as Adam and Eve were created without
original sin before the fall, Mary is created anew—redeemed in advance—to be
the mother of the Redeemer.
So Mary’s immaculate beginning is not a
decoration.
It is a foundation stone.
It is God saying:
“I am in charge of this
story, from the first moment.”
[04] Mary’s Perfect Obedience and Trust
Now, does being immaculately conceived mean
Mary’s life was free of difficulty or confusion? Far from it.
At the Annunciation, Gabriel’s greeting
“Hail, full of grace” was followed by a mission that she did not fully grasp.
Her immaculate heart was completely aligned with God’s will—yet she still
walked through uncertainty, suffering, and sorrow.
Think of Cana: Mary notices the couple’s
embarrassment and quietly brings it to Jesus. This is not disagreement—it is
intercession. It is a mother confident in her Son’s divine authority. She knows
who is in charge and trusts Him with the problem.
At the Cross, her heart is pierced—not
because she doubts God’s plan, but because love suffers with the beloved. Mary
always knew her Son was Lord of creation. She never forgot.
Where Eve hesitated, Mary said “yes.”
Where Adam hid, Mary stood at the foot of the Cross.
Where humanity failed, grace triumphed.
[05] Our Destiny Beyond Our Origins
And what about us?
Can our destination—our destiny—move beyond the limits of our origins, our
struggles, our family history, our past?
Yes. Because Mary’s Immaculate Conception
reminds us that God’s
initiative precedes our effort.
We are not defined by our weakness.
We are not imprisoned by our mistakes.
We are not destined only for this world.
We crave material comforts. I certainly
do—especially the “ideal temperature” everywhere I go! But the doctrine of the
Immaculate Conception is not meant to make us comfortable; it is meant to point
us upward.
God gives us the sacraments—Baptism, Confirmation,
the Eucharist, Penance, Anointing, Matrimony, Holy Orders—not just to mark
moments here on earth but to prepare us for heaven.
A wise seminary mentor once told future
priests:
“Your priesthood is given not simply so you can serve on earth—but so you can
get to heaven.”
The same is true for all of us.
Our vocation—our discipleship—is ultimately a path toward God.
[06] Mary, First Disciple and Model of Grace
Mary cooperated with God as the first
disciple of her Son.
She is our model of openness, humility, grace-filled freedom, and trust.
She is the first parishioner of the Church,
the first to hear and believe the Word, the first to intercede—not only at Cana
but now, and at the hour of our death.
Today we honor her Immaculate Conception not
as a distant doctrine but as a living reminder:
God is in charge—of our
salvation, our destiny, and our future.
May Mary, full of grace, help us say “yes”
with the same trust that she did.
[end]
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