Feast of the Immaculate Conception December 8th
a little video; graphic (c) Netta Ewing.
‘Looking at the awesome wonder of humanity with all its flaws,
its understandable that we should sometimes ask why are people, why are we like this,
why is it so difficult, so well nigh impossible for us to be long term consistently good.
St Augustine said it was called ‘original sin’, an awkward term, not entirely enlightening
But the feast of the Immaculate Conception and words spoken to the prophet Jeremiah can help give us a clue.
Jeremiah was told ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you, I appointed you a prophet to the nations’.
These words indicate that God had given Jeremiah the gifts he needed to be a prophet, for the task that was his life’s work,
and perhaps they can help us also see how Our Lady could be prepared for her calling as the Mother of God, the mother of Jesus.
‘Full of grace’, the angel said, gifted with complete integrity or goodness from her very beginning.
The Immaculate Conception is really about the power of God to equip people, in this instance to equip Mary for her task, for her life work.
When asked what he thought of the Immaculate Conception
John Duns Scotus, the Scottish Philosopher said ‘Potuit, decuit, fecit’
– which means more or less that God could give such a gift, that it was appropriate that it be given, and so God gave it.
There is no reason to for us to doubt that each one of us, cherished by God,
is similarly given the gifts that we need
Immac Conception- SmallImmac Conception- Small ‘
