Dear Immaculate Family,

As part of the spiritual journey of Advent, we are about to celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. We celebrate that Mary was preserved immune from any stain of sin since the very beginning of her existence, she was “full of grace” since the very moment of her conception.

The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was defined by Pope Pious IX, in 1854, but this truth of faith has been believed by the Church for many centuries: God wanted the most excellent and purest vessel to carry his Son. When the angel greeted her: “Hail Mary, full of grace…”, that is exactly what he meant. Mary is so full of grace that there is no room for sin within her. Mary is full of grace not just at the moment the angel comes to her but she is full of grace since the beginning of her life. For from the first moment of her existence, Mary’s heart was not only kept free from the stain of sin but recreated by the grace of the Holy Spirit in a new and wonderful way such that she could freely, lovingly, and completely embrace the will of God and thus cooperate with his plan of salvation.

Even though Mary was preserved immune from any stain of sin, she was not preserved immune from being human. She was chosen from all eternity to be the mother of the Savior but she had to say “yes” to God’s plan of salvation freely as a human being. Mary was not preserved immune from the struggles and hardships of life either. She experienced misunderstanding, poverty, exile, hard work, and the supreme pain of a mother: the loss of her only child… but she never withdrew her “yes” to God. Mary is so unique, and at the same time so close to us! That’s why she can be our model. In the second reading, Paul reminds us that we have also been chosen before the foundation of the world to be God’s beloved children, holy and without blemish before Him. That is our radical vocation and blessing. Like Mary, we must say “yes” to God and his will every day, in good times and in bad. May our Immaculate Mother, Patroness of our Parish, intercede for us so that we may be the people God meant us to be.

God bless you all!

Fr. Rolando