THE GOOD NEWS
ARCHBISHOP BELTRAN
| PAST HOMILIES |
| OKLAHOMA CITY ARCHDIOCESE |
| CONTACT US |
|
December 7, 2008 The Good News... ... Department of Corrections United States Department of Corrections My dear Brothers in Christ: I am very pleased to be here to celebrate this beautiful Feast of the Immaculate Conception with you. This is one of the major feasts which the Catholic Church celebrates each year. The Bible clearly presents Mary as the Mother of Jesus. Jesus is the Eternal Son of God. He is truly God as well as man. We do not fully understand this mystery of the Incarnation (i.e. God taking on our human nature as His own). However, we firmly accept this because Jesus revealed it to us and we believe in Jesus and all that He has taught. The Blessed Virgin Mary, as Mother of Jesus, is the most important person in all of God’s creation. It is true that all of us have been created in the Image and Likeness of God and therefore all of us are sacred. However, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the only human being preserved from all sin. This is what we mean when we call her the Immaculate Conception. Mary was preserved from sin by God. It was God’s plan to invite Mary to become the mother of His Son, Jesus. For this reason, God created her free of the original sin which we all inherit. The plan of God for Mary unfolds when the Archangel Gabriel appears to her. Gabriel informs Mary that she is specially chosen to be the mother of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In the Gospel account, the Archangel identifies Mary as “full of grace.” This means she is free of all sin. God had preserved her from sin because of this special role He planned for her. To describe the revealed fact that Mary was preserved from all sin, we call her the Immaculate Conception. It is a title she herself used when she appeared to Saint Bernadette at Lourdes. It was under this title that Mary was proclaimed the patroness of the United States. Our special devotion to the Blessed Mother stems from what God has done and how Mary freely and totally responded to God’s call and His grace. Thus Mary becomes an example for us even though we have not been preserved from original sin. She is an example for us because her response to God was so complete and with total love that she actually remained free of sin her entire life. Mary shows us how to live properly. She is always calling us to repentance from sin. She leads us to her Son, Jesus. Today, Dec. 8, we celebrate this feast day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then, on Friday of this week, Dec. 12, we will again celebrate a feast day in honor of the Blessed Mother. This is called the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the title given to the Blessed Mother when she appeared to Saint Juan Diego at Tepeyac in Mexico City. There, once again she presented herself as our mother. She promised to help alleviate our miseries and she asked that a chapel be built there. The original chapel was later replaced by a very large shrine. There the Eucharist (Mass) has been celebrated countless times. There, for 477 years, Our Lady of Guadalupe continues to bring people to Jesus. She continues to be our mother, calling us to repent of our sins and to follow Jesus. Dear brothers, do you ever stop and realize how good God is to each of us? When He created you – and you – and you – and me, He had a plan for each of us just as He had a plan for the Blessed Virgin Mary. He made us so that we might come to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him on this earth so that someday we could share His life in heaven forever. Yes, God created us out of love and enabled us to receive His love and to love Him in return. Many times people will go away on retreat to contemplate these truths. They retreat from their everyday work to pray and become more aware of God’s goodness and love. Some people even join religious communities and dedicate their entire lives to God. While it is true that you are not here voluntarily, the fact is you are here for a definite period of time. Wouldn’t it be wise that you make this a special time, a time of prayer and retreat? Do you realize you are not alone? God is here with you. God is everywhere. And Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who is God, is also here. Mary, the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and truly our mother is calling you tonight to repent of your sins and to follow Jesus more closely. Here you can actually come to know, love and serve God right now, right here. hen, someday you can share the life of peace and rest and true freedom in heaven forever. |