Immaculate Conception

From the moment of her conception, Mary was clean and pure with no stain of original sin. There were no barriers, no obstacles in her humanness to hold Mary back from saying yes to God. By giving herself completely to God, we are given the hope of redemption and salvation.

Let us consider the definition of immaculate and conception. Immaculate means no flaws or blemish, and conception is the beginning of a new life. Perhaps, when we contemplate these words, we see a state of being that is out of reach. But with Mary’s Immaculate Conception, we are given a new beginning in life with an opportunity to be free from the blemish of sin.

Perfection of Mary

Through the perfection of Mary as a human being, we are able to see how our lives should be led—with the fullness of God’s love living in us and through us for the sake of our salvation and the salvation of the world. True, we are not perfect and although baptism washes away our original sin, we are still vulnerable to temptations which lead us away from God’s love just as temptation and sin drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden.

However, Mary shows us that nothing will be impossible for God. Without sin, Mary was filled with God’s love—with God’s grace. “Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with you,” said the Archangel to Mary at the Annunciation [Luke 1:28]. During her life on earth, the love of God lived in Mary and through Mary, and with that love and her faithful obedience, Mary untied the knot of disobedience created by Adam and Eve.

By loosening our bond to sin, Mary gives us the hope and the grace to bond with her Son Jesus Christ, who came to earth to lead us on the path to Heaven. Mary’s purity—freedom from all sin—enabled Mary to give herself entirely to the work of her Son Jesus Christ which is the work of our redemption.

Love God Fully

Therefore, when we walk with Mary—when we pray to her and ask for her intercession— we can become better human beings and because Mary is without sin, we can become less sinful. Mary shows us that freedom from sin enables us to love God fully without hesitation or doubts. Our faith, love, and obedience become one as we conform to God’s will which is to love one another as God loves us.

With the help of Mary’s intercession, we can overcome the obstacles and barriers that separate us from God’s love. We too can strive for perfection by loving God more. The more we love God, the more faithful and obedient we become and the less likely we are to sin. The less we sin the more room we have within ourselves to be filled with God’s grace, which introduces us to the Trinitarian life—the loving unity with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Mary was the one human being perfectly united with the Holy Trinity. Like Mary, when we unite with the Holy Trinity, we become God’s living instruments that share His love on earth, bringing ourselves and our world closer to new life without blemish.