Luke
1: 26-38
Introduction
An orchestra is only as good as its harmony. A
single wrong note can completely ruin the beauty and joy of any song. In the
Book of Genesis we hear God conducting the harmony of His creation and he
introduces two protagonists, Adam and Eve, to whom he gives the ability to
follow his musical score and direction or not. Unfortunately, it only takes
them until the third chapter of the first book of the Bible to strike the wrong
note.
Original
Sin
Original Sin is a note of pride, mistrust, and
arrogance. It is a note embodying the cry of the serpent, “Non serviam,” “I will not
serve.” And it rings out over all creation and into the depths of humanity
causing enmity between God and man.
Adam and Eve notice this disharmony in their
nakedness. Before sin entered the world, they gazed upon each other with purity
of heart. Now their gaze has been distorted – their hearts soiled by sin. As a
result, the serpent is sent crawling away and humanity is banished from the
garden.
But, in the hands of a master conductor, the
wrong note can be the first note in a new song.
Genesis predicts the restoration of the
orchestra. “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your
offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel,”
we hear in the first reading. The plan of restoration and the beginning of a
new song for humanity starts in the conception of a young girl by the name of
Miriam, the daughter of Joachim and Anne. By way of the future merits of her
divine son, Mary begins her existence free from the effects of the wrong note.
She is full of grace, the angel tells us,
precisely because nothing of her is in the serpent and nothing of the serpent
is in her. She and he are at “enmity.”
God brings about His victory
In Mary, the Immaculate Conception, we see how
God brings about his victory and the restoration of harmony through the anawim or holy remnant of Israel.
St. Paul say to the Ephesians that God has had
a plan for us “before the foundation of the world.” He destined us to be his
adopted children and “to be holy and without blemish before him.” We were meant
to be like the lambs of sacrifice which are brought to the Temple without
blemish; that is, without sin.
Yet, mankind strayed from holiness. But God
will not be defeated. He forms a rescue mission. He has a plan of salvation. He
sets apart an anawim – a holy remnant
– who remains faithful to Him. The word in Hebrew means “those who are bowed
down.”
Mary is the exemplar of this holy remnant. She
is the embodiment of the true Zion, the pure living dwelling place of God. She
is the perfect house for God. Her life boldly proclaims that God has not
failed.
She says “yes” to the Lord and becomes his
living Temple. Through her, the Temple presence of God, stifled in the garden
of Eden, breaks forth definitively into the world. Her immaculate conception is
a living sign and beacon of the new note that God has used to start a new song
and restore harmony to his creation. In her begins the glorious victory of
grace and holiness.
Sin and death are not the last word. He comes
to us through Mary to bear our sins to death. It is through Mary that God takes
humanity’s defeat and turns it into divine victory.
Man trusts God again
In Mary, mankind also begins to trust God
again.
Adam and Eve think that God, in some way, is
taking something away from them. They harbor suspicion and mistrust in the
garden. They view God to be a rival. When they taste the fruit of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, they are reaching out to shape the world by
themselves. To make themselves into a god. They trust in deceit rather than in
truth.
Mary on the other hand completely reverses this
wrong note. She is totally dependent upon God and trusts him implicitly. She gives
herself over to him completely and will do nothing but His will – not
her own. She profoundly recognizes that her very existence, every breath, is
dependent upon Him. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to
me according to your word.”
The non
serviam of the serpent becomes the serviam
of the handmaid. If we live in opposition to God, if we view him as our
enemy, then we end up destroying not only ourselves but the world.
On the other hand, if the devil is at enmity with
us and we with him, it means that our friendship with God is governed by our
total “fiat.” We love him. We trust him, and we depend on him for everything.
This is not only a good way to live our lives. It is a life in accord with who
we are. While we say that the Immaculate Conception is an exception to humanity's
fate, in fact, the Immaculate Conception is the premier example of what it means
to be fully human. In her God brings about his victory and restoration of
humanity and, in her, humanity turns back to Him in complete dependence and
trust.
Conclusion
On our patronal feast day we give thanks to God
for Our Lady. Whenever we look toward the stain glass window which graces the
front of this church, we see the brightness of light shining through. We can
only make out the image of the Blessed Mother if there is light shining
through. It is no accident that the light first hits the choir loft. The light
that is Christ shines through the Immaculate Mother in order to restore the
harmony torn asunder by Adam’s sin. The light that is Christ shines through the
Immaculate Mother in order to raise our voices to heaven. The light that is
Christ shines through the Immaculate Mother in order to take the wrong note of
sin and death and begin a new song – the song of redemption.
