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Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Genesis 3:9-15, 20
Psalm 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12
Luke 1:26-38
Reflection
There is a secret which we may well miss. Our hearing is distracted for the
lack of silence: not just a silent place but a silent soul. St. Benedict instructed
his monastic followers to “listen with the ear of the heart.” An inner place of
spiritual interpretation and understanding of all which makes up the journey
of a life. Ghandi advised that... “It is better in prayer to have a heart without
words than words without a heart.”
In a quiet space where the heart rests and the soul is alive we will hear the
secret. It will come to each of us that we are chosen and destined in God’s
mysterious providence. Not to become paralyzed seeking to conquer the
meaning of an event or a single experience but to weave it into the tapestry
of mystery. To embrace what is beyond our understanding and value to the
unknown.
“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light
that I may tread safely into the unknown.” And he replied: “Go out into
the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you
better than light and safer than a known way.” – Minnie Louise Haskins –
The Gate of the Year.
Each of us is uniquely called not to be successful, famous or impressive. We
are called to be whole. Joan Chittister cautions us that “We are not born to
win; we are born to grow…” We will do so in all the seasons which make a
person fully alive. In our reading today from
Genesis Adam did not listen and missed the
secret of blessing. “Be conscious of what you
have and be grateful. If you concentrate on
what you don’t have you will never enough.”
says Joseph Heller.