THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2020

PARADISE RESTORED IN MARY

Greeting (cf. Second Reading)

We are called in Christ to be holy and spotless. and, like Mary, to live in God’s presence. May we respond to God’s call and may our Lord be always with you. R/ And with your spirit.

Introduction

Mary leads the way for all the people who journey toward the Lord. Today the Church applies to Mary, the virgin conceived without sin, the words of the prophet: “I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God.” Why this joy? Because Mary is like the garden of humankind in which God lets the good seed sprout. Because she is the servant of the Lord and the image of what the Church ought to be. God is faithful to his promises and through her he gave us our Saviour. Mary is the first and the only one of all people who was kept from sin. She is paradise restored, where God and people encounter one another.

Penitential Act

We are not free from sin, and we share in the responsibility for sin in the world. Let us seek God’s forgiveness and pray that we may also share in God’s grace and goodness. (pause)

God loves us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

When we were dead through sin, he brought us to life with Christ: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

It is through grace that we have been saved and raised up with Christ: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord, destroy the power of evil in us and keep your promises. Make us your children of light and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray that with Mary we may overcome evil

(pause)

God our Father, we thank you for choosing Mary as the Mother of your Son and for preserving her from all sin from the first moment of her life. Let this sign of your boundless love give us hope and strength to overcome evil in all its forms. May we respond to your loving goodness with the eagerness of Mary, by the power of the grace won for us through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

First Reading: The Promise of Victory Over Evil

God condemns the power of evil symbolized by the serpent. He promises that the forces of good in humankind and the world will overcome sin.

1 Reading: Genesis 3:9-15, 20

After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” The LORD God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; on your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living.

Responsorial Psalm PS 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4

R. (1) Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.

Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. R.

The LORD has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. R.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. R.

Second Reading: Called to Be God’s Children

Before all ages, we have been destined to become God’s daughters and sons, his holy people, through Christ’s salvation.

2 Reading: Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12

Brothers and sisters: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favour of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.

Alleluia Luke 1:28

Alleluia, alleluia. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women. R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: The Beginning of the Fulfillment

As the “Favoured One of God,” Mary is the prophetic model of those who overcome evil. With her begins the fulfillment of God’s promises. With her, those who are one with Christ will learn to say Yes to God’s plan.

Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Commentary

We hear one of the stories of our genesis – our first parents who symbolize all people created in the image and likeness of God, called to obey the Word of God. They failed, missed the mark, and found themselves searching for knowledge of themselves, of God, of freedom to do both good and evil. Since the beginning, all of us have struggled to know and obey God. Adam and Eve represent each and everyone of us seeking and failing to know life in God. We have been recreated in baptism, sharing the life of God in Jesus, and we have also been blessed beyond description. We are filled with the love of God. This is the will and pleasure of God – to make us all-holy, to know God intimately, and to live our lives in praise of God’s goodness to us.

We hear the story of the beginnings of the incarnation, with God sending his angel to declare that God’s presence will be among us forever and always, in a child born of a woman and the power of the Spirit of God. This is the account of the Trinity and the Incarnation, two core mysteries at the heart of our belief and practice. It is about Mary saying yes, It is about her baptism and our saying yes so that God can be born and can be seeded into our souls, hearts, and bodies.

Intercessions

Let us thank God our Father for giving us his beloved Son Jesus through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let us ask that the work of salvation begun in Jesus and very visible in Mary may continue in us, as we pray: