The Woman of Prevenient Grace!

 (Homily for the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary)

     The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is the feast of grace and its power. Today we celebrate God's victory over evil, the triumph of grace over sin, human nature is preserved in Mary from the contagion of guilt and sin. Although the Solemnity we are celebrating today was not in vigour until the middle ages, even that time, it was not universally accepted, some medieval scholars felt that it was contrary to the Pauline teachings on the universality of human sin (cf. Rm. 3:9, 23) and equally to the enunciation of article XV of the Belgic Confession, which holds that Christ alone did not sin. As a matter of fact, our celebration today offers us an opportunity to peruse into this Doctrine and equally to understand why the Catholic Church holds on to it. Going back to history lane, the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was formally defined as a doctrine of the Church by Pope Pius IX in1854. It is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original, that kind of twist in our nature that makes our will tend not to follow what it knows to be right, but the contrary. The doctrine is anchored in advance on God’s redemptive act through Christ. This is Prevenient Grace. “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.” Mary’s greatness and favour springs from her relation with God. She is a woman of prevenient and enabling grace. In the Gospel of Luke we see the relation of Mary with God the Father: “He who is Mighty has done great things for me” (Lk. 1:49). Indeed, her Immaculate Conception is one of those great things.

     In the first reading (Gen. 3:9-15, 20) we are presented with the story of the fall, which is seen as the origin of evil. Even though it is glaring that the famous Eden cannot be located on a map, and the event of the eating of the forbidden fruit cannot be dated, however, the story of Adam and Eve is no doubt, the expression of fundamental truths about man, and at the heart of that truth is the assertion that the ordeals and woes of human life are majorly caused by man’s rejection of God’s design and divine destiny.

     Furthermore, evil in this passage was symbolized by the serpent. In verse 15 we see the earliest promise of man’s final victory and conquest over evil, the Protevangelium. On the other hand the passage speaks of the perennial antagonism between man and evil, represented by the serpent. Indeed, this earliest promise of man’s victory over evil connects us well to the Solemnity of this day. For the victory came about because the seed that achieved the final victory over evil was born through the woman: Mary. Little wonder, some Church fathers established in their writings a sort of a contrast between Eve and Mary, in fact, Mary at times is considered by some as the New Eve. As a matter of fact, Eve by and through her disobedience brought evil into the world, and contrarily, Mary by and through her obedience let in the Victor over evil into the world.

     The second reading (Eph. 1:3-6,11-12) with the thanksgiving at the beginning situates well the salvation wrought by God in and through Christ into the context of the story of salvation, of course it started with God’s plan: “he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and faultless before him in love” (v.3). Without mincing words, it behoves us to affirm that Mary is part of the “us” chosen before the foundation of the world. But the Virgin Mary is the only creature in the world redeemed by Christ Jesus for prevention and not for liberation from sin. In the words of Pope Francis: “Above all, today's liturgical feast celebrates one of the marvels of the history of salvation: the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. She too was saved by Christ, but in an extraordinary way, because God wanted that from the moment of her conception the mother of her Son should not be touched by the misery of sin. And therefore Mary, throughout the course of her earthly life, was free from any stain of sin, she was the "full of grace" (Angelus, 8 December 2020).

     In the Gospel passage (Lk. 1:26-38) we are presented with the passage that affirms categorically the obedience of Mary which made the Incarnation possible. Although, there is no Gospel passage that affirms the Immaculate Conception but our present passage asserts God’s choice of Mary and Mary’s obedience that sets the realization of God’s plan in motion. The passage of the Annunciation remains like a masterpiece that you can't stop admiring. Even if you know every detail of the story, the beauty that shines through it never allows you to get used to it, it is perennially admirable. Indeed, in Mary the word of God does not find an obstacle but a mirror, an entirely original way of reflecting itself, of spreading, and expanding.

     The Greek word "kekaritomène", with which the angel greeted her, can be translated literally as “favoured” or “privileged”, but the Greek verbs therein denotes a kind of transformation of the subject: “charitòo”, which entails being transformed through this favour or grace. The word expresses election, the predestination to the maternity of the Messiah. Thus, "kekaritomène" is not just full of grace, it can be translated as "she to whom grace has been given", and this becomes the new name attributed to Mary by God. The Latin Vulgate translates it "Gratia plena", but in Greek it is much stronger and more precise. Indeed, that word describes the gift of grace given to Mary by the Lord even before her birth, and that is the power of the prevenient grace. Since her conception she had the privilege of being called to divine motherhood, and for this reason she was protected and kept so that she could offer the Word all the beauty of creation that shone in her. This is the power of divine grace in action!

     Mary was perturbed at the words of the angel and she wondered what he meant by such a greeting. Mary like every human being in a similar circumstance was caught up with fear, questioning and uncertainty. But the turning point of her story does not consist in not having fear or questions or having sentiments of uncertainty, but in knowing how to trust God despite one's fear, one's questions and the uncertainties. Then the angel told her: "Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found grace with God." Indeed, human experience confirms that being afraid and being told not to be afraid alone does not make one fearless, rather it just makes one feel not understood. Little wonder, Mary will express her full joy in front of Elizabeth and not in front of the angel, because with her cousin she will feel understood enough to be able to find right interpretations to what happened to her.

     In Mary’s response: «Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word”, we see Mary’s full availability and disposition to what God was about to accomplish with and through her. Indeed, the words of Mary are like the prefiguration of “the Lord’s Prayer, Our Father, for in her fiat is condensed the phrase: “thy will be done.” Every time we say yes to God, something changes in us, but always for the better, Sure it does!

     As a matter fact, the readings of today bring three important facts to our consideration:

►that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception does not compromise the truth that all men, including the Blessed Virgin Mary belong to the fallen humanity.

►that the salvation of humanity depends on Christ alone, once again including the Blessed Virgin Mary.

►that the affirmation of the Immaculate Conception is a way of affirming Mary’s total commitment and obedience to God as revealed in the Scriptures.

     Above all, in our Advent journey therefore, we are invited to contemplate one of the marvels accomplished by the grace of God: the Blessed Virgin Mary. May Mary the Woman of Prevenient grace and the Ark of the New Covenant intercede for us as we prepare more eagerly to welcome her Son: Jesus Christ, Amen!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)