Homily Notes Third Sunday of Advent
Immaculate Conception Homily Notes
No and yes are two of the most basic words of the English language. No is a word that of course means that I am not going to do something. Yes, is a word that means I will.
You ever wonder what the first word a baby says is? A survey was done among parents asking what their children’s first words were. The top fifteen words that a child said were interesting. We might guess at what two of them work, Dada and Mama. Another word that we might guess was Hi. The other words of the top fifteen were things like Baby, Dog, Ball, but right there at number 7 was the word no.
When a baby says no for the first time doesn’t it seem like it is a milestone? Somehow it is as if they are saying I am my own person. I will do what I want. Innocence seems to kind of disappear.
Our story from the Book of Genesis kind of reflects this dynamic. God asked the first parents to refrain from doing one thing. The one thing they were not to do was to eat of the fruit of a tree in the middle of the Garden of Paradise. But this was a special tree for it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve were created as innocent beings. We get a sense that there were completely comfortable with themselves, with God, with the world. But when they said no. Not only did sin enter the world but guilt and shame did as well. From that point forward the trust they had in God seemed to disappear. We even see them hiding from God for they were afraid of their creator. Human beings have struggled with fear of God ever sense.
What we recall today is someone who said yes. Mary never lost the innocence of the first parents. Moral theologians say that the highest form of moral development is shown by that person who always acts out of love of others as well as love of God. Perhaps that is why Jesus said the key to all morality is that we love God-we love neighbor. Mary had that type of moral awareness. She would only cooperate with God. We believe it was in her very nature to always fulfill God’s wishes in her life.
Just as the first parent’s disobedience seemed to create a chasm between humanity and God, Mary’s yes allowed Jesus to enter into the human condition transforming all of us. We all can say no to God. We can also say yes. Mary inspires us to trust in God. May our first desire always be to say yes to God. If that is the case, then we show we understand what the Immaculate Conception allowed Mary to do.