Immaculate Conception of Mary December 8, 2025
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
The most powerful thing ever done by a human being and it was done before she was even born. Mary is the Immaculate Conception. From the very first instant of her existence in her mother’s womb, Mary was immaculate, totally free from sin, a human being the likes of which had not existed since Adam and Eve were first created in the garden. We speak of Mary’s Immaculate Conception with such familiarity that this is lost on us. An uncorrupted human nature? No sin at all?! Don’t you realized that sin is what causes us to die? Ever noticed how messed up the world is? Sin… sin is everywhere! It’s why you doubt yourself, why you wonder if you can trust people, why we sometimes just don’t like people for no reason, why we want to break the rules, why being bad feels good, why we can’t have nice things.
And this woman, this little girl has completely escaped sin? Like, she didn’t just grow up and learn to stop… it never even touched her. Not for a single instant! That’s the most powerful accomplishment of any human being. And it wasn’t something she did! It happened to her at her conception. A total, free, undeserved, and absolutely unique gift. No one else in history received it and no one in the future ever will. No wonder we make such a big deal out of Mary! World records can be broken, new battles can be won in more spectacular ways, new scientific discoveries can make old ones seems small, but this? This escape from the condition that literally every other human being in existence has failed to escape from? This perfect record never to be repeated?
Sure, Jesus is also a human being completely untouched by sin, but he’s also God so that’s not a real comparison. It’s logically impossible for God to sin. But an ordinary human being who is just human? The greatest of all time.
And she didn’t do it. It was done to her. Which is exactly why we make a big deal out of it. Today is a Holy Day of Obligation. There are only six Holy Day of Obligation in the United States and three of them are for Mary. Of those three, this is the only one that always obligates us. Usually, when a Holy Day falls on Monday or Saturday, we lift the obligation. But there are two that don’t do that: Christmas and the Immaculate Conception.
And you know what’s strange? We have a whole nother feast day dedicated to something Mary actually did herself. The Annunciation on March 25th also celebrates Mary, but unlike this feast, it celebrates something she had a choice in. It’s when she says “may it be done to me according to your word.” Why isn’t that a day of obligation? Why is the day Mary didn’t control more celebrated that the day she had a choice?
Because that’s the secret of Mary: that celebrating her is really about celebrating God. Of course we praise and extol and honor Mary for her choices, for her love and witness to humble, holy, obedience. Don’t you ever let me catch you disrespecting her! But even more important – and Mary would agree – is that we celebrate what God has done in her and through her, even when it was something she had not control over… like being conceived without sin.
And it isn’t just praise and celebration. There’s a practical side to this, something we learn and imitate. You… you are amazing. You are fearfully, wonderfully made. You are unrepeatable and beloved. You are a unique reflection of God. There’s something about you that does something no one else ever has done or ever could do. There is an aspect of God’s goodness that you and only you can show to us. And that thing? It’s not something you did, not something you earned, not something you chose, and not something you get to take credit for.
Like Mary’s sinlessness, that gift can be lost. Not that you’ll ever be anything other than you. Only that, if you reject that gift it will be forever hidden from our sight. If you go to heaven, you bring with you an aspect of God’ glory that makes heaven better for everyone there. If you do not go to heaven, we are all going to miss out on that.
So, this is what Mary’s Immaculate Conception teaches us… well, it teaches us many many things, but this is one: who and what you are is a gift given to you. The greatest thing about you is not something you earn, which means you can stop worrying, stop stressing, stop despairing. Like salvation, your nature and identity are a gift. The hard part is done. The most important things in life are received and do not depend on you. God’s got you!
Not that you can sit back, do nothing, and bask in your own gloriousness, mind you. Once received, your nature and identity, like salvation, must be cooperated with, kept safe, and developed. Mary was immaculately conceived by God. You have been made and saved by God. But then Mary did eventually say “may it be done to me according to your word.” That was her choice, a choice made possible by God’s gift, and we praise her for it. You have the same choice… the same choice many many times, in fact.
Do not be afraid, you are made good. Broken, yes, but good. Do not be afraid, you are loved and you couldn’t change that if you tried. Do not be afraid. Rejoice, like Mary, in what is undeservedly given you. Then let that joy, that gratitude, that desire to do something to please the God who gave you everything overflow into your choices each and every day: “may it be done to me according to your word.”