(Immaculate Conception 2015: This homily was given on December 8, 2015
at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Luke 1: 26-38.)
Today we officially begin the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. I would say that most people tend to think of
mercy as a response that we give to sin and to hurtful behavior: Someone
offends us in some way, and in the spirit of Christian charity we respond with
mercy by making the choice to forgive the person.
And that’s true! To extend
forgiveness to another human being—especially if that person has not apologized
for what he or she did to us—is an act of mercy.
Doing this, of course, is not easy—but the good news is that those who
do make the choice to do it are promised an abundance of mercy for
themselves. Jesus said, “If you forgive
the sins of others, your heavenly Father will forgive you.” He also said, “Blessed are the merciful, for
they will be shown mercy.”
But there’s another dimension to mercy that I want to focus your
attention on this morning besides forgiveness.
And this ties in to the feast
we’re celebrating in the Church today, the feast of Mary’s Immaculate
Conception.
Mercy prevents.
That’s the lesson: Mercy prevents.
Mercy prevents (or at least it seeks to prevent) things that are not the
will of God for people.
This is an idea that actually stands behind what we call the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Hopefully we know at least some of these and
are trying to put them into practice—as Pope Francis says we should, especially
during this Jubilee Year.
First, the corporal works of mercy:
- Feed the hungry
- Give drink to the thirsty
- Clothe the naked
- Shelter the homeless
- Visit the sick
- Visit the imprisoned
- Bury the dead
Those activities—those works of mercy—are really all about prevention. Most of us have probably never thought about them
in that way before, but it’s true nonetheless.
Because what am I saying when I perform these good deeds? I’m saying, “Because I love my neighbor, I will do all that I can to
prevent him from starving to death,
or dying of thirst, or not having enough clothes or a home. I will do what I
can to prevent him from living in
loneliness and from being abandoned; and I will prevent him from being disrespected in death.”
It’s all about prevention.
The same is true of the
spiritual works of mercy, which are to …
- Admonish the sinner
- Instruct the ignorant
- Counsel the doubtful
- Comfort the sorrowful
- Bear wrongs patiently
- Forgive all injuries
- Pray for the living and the dead
In performing these works with the right disposition of heart, a person
is saying, “I will do what I can to prevent
my neighbor from going to hell. I will
do what I can to prevent my neighbor
from living in ignorance of the truth that will set him free and lead him to
eternal salvation. I will try to prevent people from losing their faith, and
from falling into despair, and from experiencing a poor Christian witness from
me, and from living without the support of prayer.”
The corporal and spiritual works of mercy are all about prevention.
Which is also what Mary’s Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother was
all about!
Remember, the Immaculate Conception does NOT refer to the virginal
conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary—which is what many people mistakenly
believe. The event that led to Jesus’
conception is called “the Annunciation” (which was today’s gospel reading).
The Immaculate Conception refers to Mary’s
conception in the womb of her mother, St. Ann.
Here’s how Pope Pius IX defined the dogma: “the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a
singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of
Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of
original sin.”
Or, to put it another way, God, in his mercy and by a special grace, prevented Mary from contracting original
sin. God’s act was an act of
“prevention”—and because of that act Mary became a fitting vessel for the
Savior to come into the world.
God did not choose to prevent us from experiencing original sin
(unfortunately!), but, by living our faith and performing the corporal and
spiritual works of mercy we can prevent ourselves—and others—from experiencing
some of the negative consequences of sin.
And that’s a good thing.
Actually, that’s a great
thing!
