Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - (Opening of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy)
Tomorrow the church celebrates the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It's also the day where the church starts the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. When we speak about the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, no doubt it was only promulgated in the 19th century, but, our story begins at the very beginning, in fact, in today's first reading, the Book of Genesis, where we hear the story of man’s origins and also the origin of sin. This wonderful story of creation, though perfect in all aspects, was damaged though not completely destroyed by the ugliness of sin – man choosing to rewrite the story of creation by removing God, the Creator, from the equation. Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. Ugliness entered the world through sin. It is aptly symbolised by Adam and Eve’s sudden realisation of their own nakedness, now seen as something bad and ugly which required masking. Thus, through the disobedience of our first parents, mankind became infected with the pandemic malaise of original sin. With original sin came the ugliness of every depravity, ignorance, and malice known to man. The beauty of Paradise was lost.
It is in the story of the Fall that we first see evidence of God’s mercy. The nakedness of man is covered by skins provided by God, so that men need not hide from His presence. Sin would bring about a curse upon humanity but sin would not have the last word. Sin will not be the end of man’s hope, but the starting point. Sin does not close the door on God’s blessings; it opens the door for His grace and mercy. Through the mercy of God, the Fall would be instrumental for God to send the final solution – The seed of the woman will bring about the destruction of Satan and the deliverance of man; sin and evil would be finally defeated.
Therefore, if we want to have a discussion on God's mercy, we must first begin with the story of sin. In dealing with the sins of men, God’s mercy is revealed. Though, it may appear that everyone in the world hopes to hear a message of mercy, many are deluded by the falsifications of sin. Unfortunately, for most people, mercy often means the denial of sin. But there can be no true mercy without Truth. The reason for this confusion is because we live in a world that denies the existence of sin. Why is that? Because sin is an offense against God, and many have cease believing in God. Therefore, if there is no God, there cannot be any sin. But we are surrounded by sin and read about it and see it in the news media every day—murder, adultery, abortion, sodomy, theft, lies and so forth. Of course, we call it by other names. We seek to normalise such behaviour and even institutionalise them. Unless we recognise and acknowledge sin, unless we accept responsibility for our mistakes, the story of God’s salvation will make no sense to us. Those who do not acknowledge their sins see no need for God and His mercy. Only sinners require mercy.
I guess this is the reason our Holy Father has chosen this day as the start of the Extraordinary Jubilee year of Mercy. Mary, the Immaculate Conception, the new Eve, is God’s greatest masterpiece of His mercy. In Mary, we get to see what humankind would look like without the Fall, without Original Sin, without the curse. Mary is, therefore, the first to be shown God’s immense mercy, the first redeemed, the first Christian. Mary is the New Eve at the Annunciation; whereas the old Eve heeded the counsel of the serpent, the New Eve obeyed the message of God’s angel. Just as God prepared a paradise for Adam and Eve, so Mary is a “second” but more perfect sinless paradise where the Son of God dwelt nine months before his birth in Bethlehem. As the New Eve, Mary restored the relationship broken by the first Eve. If the first Eve was named as mother of all fallen humanity, the New Eve is the mother of all those born into new life through the grace in Christ. In Mary, the world comes to know that it no longer has to labour under the clutches of the curse, but we have now become recipients of God’s heavenly grace.
In this Year of Mercy, Mary is a fitting image of God’s tender loving mercy and kindness. Every day, we continue to struggle against temptation and sin. Yet, sin does not have the last word, it is Grace. He has not abandon us to our sin and to its curse. In fact, God takes what we have ruined by sin and makes it far better. He does so not because we merited it or deserved His graces. No. He gives it to us as an absolutely free gift. This is the good news which the Church wishes to proclaim in this Year of Mercy.
