Homily for 8 Dec 2017

For the past 1700 years or so, the Church—the community of the faithful—has seen in Saint Mary something unique.  She was the woman chosen by God to give physical birth to the Messiah.  And not only that, God created her in such a way as to be a perfect temple of the Holy Spirit: free from original sin from the moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne. 

In Advent, we hear John the Baptist say: “Prepare the way of the Lord.”  And in the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, God did just that.  In that humble girl of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph, God made a clear way, a level highway, a soul which was entirely open to receiving the Holy Spirit.  God prepared for the coming of the Lord by creating Saint Mary with such a pure soul free from original sin.

And, as Saint Paul says to the Ephesians, God has “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.”  Like our Blessed Mother, we too are chosen to be holy and sinless.  And just like her, the angels come to us to lift us up and to let us know of our divine calling.  As much as our Lord Jesus Christ is our Model and Example, the Virgin Mary is also a model for us because her life was focused entirely on God.

And those two models of holy living set a pretty high standard.  But, of course, that’s if we’re trying to reach the heights of holiness, if we’re trying to reach and grasp for holiness.  But, you know, that’s not the model we’re trying to follow.  The holiness of the Virgin Mary wasn’t her own doing.  Her freedom from original sin was God’s doing.  The way to holiness isn’t about doing more; it isn’t about trying harder.  It’s about letting God do more; it’s about letting go of the idea that can be holy by our own efforts.

The lesson our Blessed Mother gives us today isn’t so much the fact of her Immaculate Conception; instead, it’s the fact that her pure holiness is God’s doing, not her own.  And throughout her life she knew that.  And so she couldn’t help but sing her Magnificat in praise and glory to God.  She would have sung with the utmost gladness the psalm we hear today: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.” 

As much as we are called to be holy, as much as we are called to be like the saints and especially the Virgin Mary, the path to holiness is first and foremost about desiring it—desiring holiness—and then letting God lead the way.  Holiness and purity of heart is only and always the work of God.  And we who let ourselves be made holy and good by our Creator are the happy beneficiaries of his goodness.

And so, as we continue on our way through Advent, may we hear the words of John the Baptist in our hearts: “Prepare the way of the Lord.”  Prepare the way by remembering that holiness is God’s work.  Holiness comes to those who can say, like St. Mary said, “Let it be done to me, according to your word,” my Lord and my God.