The feast this year has been shifted to Monday 9 December on account of the Second Sunday of Advent. I invite parishioners to reflect on the opening prayer of the Mass for today which states, in part: "... that, as you (God) preserved her from every stain of sin by virtue of the death of your Son, which you foresaw..." (Roman Missal) It is the death of Jesus that brings about the defeat of sin and the "For the wages of sin is death" (Rm 6: 23) Without Our Lady free from Original Sin and conceiving by the Holy Spirit, Jesus himself was free from Original Sin. Thus, he was the perfect Lamb of sacrifice: "For our sake he (God) made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor 5: 21) What are the implications of this mystery? The liturgy tells us in the preface for the day that: "She, the most pure Virgin, was to bring forth a Son, the innocent Lamb who would wipe away our offences, you placed her above all others to be for your people an advocate of grace and a model of holiness." (Roman Missal) Therefore, we not only aspire to imitate her in her holiness but can also ask her mediation in the life of grace to know God's mercy and love.
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