Dec 2022 - Immaculate Conception

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables (Soult Madonna), 1660–65, oil on canvas, 274 x 190 cm (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Thursday, December 8, 2022

Throughout Advent I find that my waiting is not always the joyous, patient waiting that is expected. This time is not a beautiful and simple waiting, but rather an eager and anxious waiting, a waiting with bated breath. In the noise, the distractions, and the pressure to be perfect, I find myself asking if my waiting is enough or right. Am I really waiting? Am I waiting for Him?

And then, right in the midst of this anxious waiting, the grace of the Holy Spirit stops me. I stop and am able to really breathe. I stop and am actually at peace. But we all stop. We stop because we welcome our Blessed Mother. We celebrate her birth and the first fulfillment of her ultimate grace. 

Today we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception. We celebrate the birth of Our Blessed Mother, so full of grace and yet still so open to and full of capacity for her grace to grow. We see her grace grow in her dignity, her great work, and her great love. We see and now hear her fiat, and all comes to pass.

I cannot help but think that the Blessed Mother wants us to be more, to live more. We have to ask, what do we do with this grace and with her example? My hope is that we experience the grace of the Immaculate Conception and of Mary’s fiat each and every day. My simple prayer is that we find her Immaculate Conception present in our daily lives not just in this Advent Season. 

I read recently of the writings of French missionary Fr. Jacques Marquette and later American James Matthew Wilson in describing the Mississippi River as the River of Immaculate Conception. Fr. Marquette was inspired by the early settlers and Mr. Wilson relied on the beautiful music of Frank La Racca’s Mass of the Americas in portraying this mighty river as the grace found only in the Immaculate Conception. This example is poignant, particularly here and as we consider our reliance on the river in Louisiana. Something so powerful and so simple in our backyard, but again a reminder of her grace. 

In the historical account and later in the poem, we hear described that through their travels on the Mississippi River the early settlers “sought primarily to enter as agents of grace among the Indians and to live with them, preach to them, and enter into communion with them.” Wow. Aren’t we trying the same years and a lifetime later? Here at JPG, aren’t we seeking to enter as agents of grace to our students and to teach them, grow with them, and enter into communion with them? Yes, Lord, Yes. Daily, please, in Your Wisdom, Yes.

Here at JPG, I am grateful that we each continue to seek the Immaculate Conception and to exemplify Mary’s fiat. I am blessed to walk with so many in humility as we fail but get up again and again to model her faithful “yes,” and her love. And for those of us who are still anxious in this waiting, I pray you have a moment of peace under her mantle and her love. Her “yes” is enough. Let it be enough for you today and tomorrow as it continues to inspire you and move you unto His love.