Mary is the Immaculate Conception. This was agreed from early tradition and given to the Church as a dogma in 1854 by Pius IX. This title is not so much about sin as about freedom; the grace to say “yes” to God wholeheartedly, fully, without thought or consequence. It is to give back to God what he has given, the gift of myself. Adam chose self rather than freedom. Like the world, he thought freedom was about personal choice, thinking about self and being self actualised. True freedom, however, is to choose God. Without God we are captives in a wilderness. Meaning is lost and egalitarianism is noted because it is too often a rare commodity. Mary had no doubt in her “yes”. Zachariah doubted and was struck dumb, no word was spoken until he named his child- John.

The freedom to lay down her life

Mary was surprised as she was not yet married, “How can this be ? “she asked. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will cover you.” Was the reply “ Let it be done unto me,” she said. Despite the knowledge of what could happen to her, Mary exercised the graced freedom she had been gifted with by God. This was the freedom to choose, the freedom to lay down her life, the freedom to step into a love relationship with God and to let go of self in mutual giving. Mary is an icon of our relationship with God or our relationship with husband or wife. We become less. We blend and think only of the good of the other. This is the Mary who speaks to us, revealing the promise of how it will be for us. Mary, a woman like us, human with human parents, gifts us with the promise of our future life too. Sinful as we are, we are graced by the child she is to bear, so that we too may be graced to choose God more and more in our lives. “Do not be afraid Mary!” the angel said and the world and the universe awaited her answer. In Mary the Old and the New Testaments become one and we move from waiting to reality. It is noticeable that she speaks in the present tense in her Magnificat,

“He puts forth his arm in strength
and scatters the proud hearted
He casts the mighty from their thrones
and raises the lowly
He fills the starving with good things,
sends the rich away empty
He protects Israel his servant, remembering His mercy
The mercy promised to our fathers
to Abraham and his sons for ever.”

Mary brings Christ into the present time. It is happening now. The Old and the New testaments come together at the birth of this child. With Mary all comes to light, then and now. St Irenaeus tells us, “When God longed to be other than himself he chose to become Man”. He comes to Mary so that he can be revealed to others. He comes to us so that we can reveal him to others also. We, like her, give birth. We have been seeded by God, graced and gifted, called and sent. Mary teaches us that the Word is not just to be read, not just to be heard, not just to be preached- but to be given life, to be birthed, practiced.

Being a Christian is primarily about who God is and what he has done for me

What is it that stops us doing this? Being Christian is not an invention of Man, nor is it about fulfilling commandments or rules. It is centrally about who God is and what he has done for me/ for us. Life’s journey is into God through God’s grace. With Mary we are called to say “The Lord has done marvellous things for me and holy is his name.” In giving her “yes” Mary accepted the consequences of life not just for herself but for all of us. The Holy Spirit overshadows us too. By accepting Christ into our lives we accept the responsibility to model this for others - not just to believe what we know, but to act out what we know to give it, to give Him life in the world.

Mary’s life had been a preparation for this event. What about us? Paul says, why do I do the things I don’t want to do and can’t do the things I want to do. (Rom 7) Because we don’t have the perfect freedom of Mary but we do have the freedom to say a “yes” that we mean and allow God to transform it. Mary’s gift to us is the light of the world who comes into the dark recesses of our lives and loves us into life. In his light we find the pearl of great price- that is me, Christ living in me. Mary’s “yes” reminds me that I am good, I am graced to overcome my doubts and my hesitancy. With her encouragement and the grace of God this Easter-tide I can give a hesitant “yes” to announcing the Good News. Christ dwells in me, conceived in my life by my “yes”. Yet unless I cooperate with this grace to the best of my ability, then my Christianity will remain barren and lifeless in its witness to those around me.

I can write my own Magnficat, my faith story

When I give my “yes”, however hesitantly, then I can begin to write my own Magnificat, my Faith Story. I can tell of what the Almighty has done for me- how have I changed, attitudes, likes and dislikes of people, insights, etc. Why don’t you reflect on this? Keep a journal. Thank him each night. Reflect again at the end of each week, about what God has done for you and then each month summarize this and move on. I find I am never too old to find God moving in my life, to notice it, record it, reflect on it and thank God for it and to tell others about it when the opportunity comes my way.

Mary can become the focus for devotions which become private. But Mary’s love for God was never private. She never pointed to herself but always to her Son as the Way. At a recent conference for leaders two of the speakers, Fr. Peter Hocken and Fr Pat Collins, both drew our attention to the importance of faith moving into action. Fr Peter said that for faith to move from our heads to our hearts is never enough - it needs to move to our guts for us to move into action for God.

Move from Revelation to Proclamation to Demonstration

Fr Pat described this as the move from Revelation, to Proclamation to Demonstration. What are we doing with God’s call? He asked. With Mary we are called to offer ourselves even when we don’t know what the consequences will be. Life throws many things at us which we do not understand - illnesses, bereavements, losses etc. We may ask where is God in all of this? With Mary we hear, “Do not be afraid.” She calls us to trust, to know we are not alone. What is happening is of the world, not of God but God will show us how to cope and it is our opportunity, no matter what our age to hang in and to hang on. Paul tells us in 2 cor. 5 “that we are to walk by faith not by sight”, and in Heb. 11, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen”.

Pondering with Mary, enables us to believe that the promise will be fulfilled and that with her we too can give our “yes”, bit by bit. This brings us to greater freedom. We may never fully understand like her what is going on, but she gives us hope that after our wilderness time, we will finally see resurrection.

Pat Kennedy is a member of the English National Service Committee for the CCR and works in Adult Formation in her diocese.