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      The feast of the Immaculate Conception is one of two major feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary to occur in the U.S.A. in very short order.  Today we celebrate the Immaculate Conception and four days from now, Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The first feast is a holy day of obligation, the second one is not.  However, in my pastoral experience, the second feast is far better observed if Mass attendance is any indication!  The theological emphasis is very different on each occasion.  The Immaculate Conception feast refers to Mary's relationship to God.  The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe refers more to Mary's relationship to humanity.  I will leave the second one for its own time in a few days.  Today's feast has its own dignity.

     The Immaculate Conception refers to Mary's relationship to God from the very moment of her conception by her parents.  Although this idea was hotly debated by very famous theologians over the centuries, the subject was settled as a matter of faith by Pope Pius IX in 1854. It means that Mary was born without any effect of original sin.  It was as if she were born already baptized.  She was part of God's plan for the coming of the Messiah, which required, in this way of thinking, a sinless human cooperator.  The angel's greeting, quoted above, is seen as an indicator of Mary's special status. The bishops of the church in the United States decided to make Mary, under her title of The Immaculate Conception, the special patroness of our country.  This is why this feast is a holy day of obligation in the U.S.A..  Since Mary plays such an important role in the Advent season as one who waits in anticipation, being a pregnant woman, this feast is reminder of the importance of all humanity in cooperating with the plan of salvation.  Mary had her own very important role to play, and so do each one of us.  AMEN