Yesterday many members of our parish gathered together to decorate for the Madrigal dinner. One of the requests that was made was to find eight boxes of white lights. Father Jim and I took this task upon ourselves and headed to Lowes, Wal-Mart, and Big Lots to look for these lights. Only if the request was to come back with colored lights because they were available in massive supply. After finding only 4 boxes out of these three stores we realized that accumulating eight boxes was hopeless.
Our society wants us to realize just that. Our society wants us to believe that all is hopeless. Look at the media and all that it has to share with us and we will begin to see that their is no hope. We are told about the importance of our individuality which only means that we cannot infringe upon someone else's beliefs. In order to fit into the order of society we need to blend in with the crowd and never express our own beliefs. In a world where there seems to be no right or wrong answer it seems like we have no hope. If we turned on the television, radio, or browsed the web this afternoon we probably heard about that the shootings that took place at the Virginia Tech campus. With sad news like this going on in the world around us it is easy to believe that we have no hope. In our own lives we can think of examples of sickness, death, losing a job, or other things which presents to our minds that we are hopeless.
It is through the Immaculate Conception that this hopelessness is overcome. No matter how great the sin of Adam and Eve was, Mary has come into the world free of sin. The Immaculate Conception is the white light of virtue shining brightly among the darkness of sin. This white light shines out among the individuality of the world and expresses the truth of Christ our Lord. This white light shines brightly during our saddest moments with the hope that one day we can again feel joy.
May we allow this great light to shine brightly within our own lives, so that our faith may be transformed into something greater. No matter what state of mind we find ourselves in today the Blessed Virgin Mary is present extending her hand to take. May we grasp upon it and allow her to take us to Christ. As this great exchange takes place she whispers into our ears that all is filled with hope if you can trust in me and my son.
In today's Gospel passage an angel appeared to Mary and told her that she was to bear a Son. This news came as shock to her ears, but she was willing to trust fully in God. She knew that accepting such a great honor would bring her much heartache, but she still accepted this invitation. She knew that by accepting this invitation people would begin to talk behind her back concerning who the father might be. Mary was young and filled with much fear, but she was willing to be humble of heart and lay everything down out of love for God.
Yes my brothers and sisters the world can seem to be hopeless. All can seem to be dark inside of this world. We do have a lot to fear! At the same time we have the Immaculate Conception where Mary has overcome the sin of Adam and Eve. We have this lady humble of heart who is ever present to intercede for us during our greatest needs. May we allow Mary to intercede in our lives today, so that we may ever grow closer into union with God.
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