You Have Found Favor With God…
Today we, as a church, celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, affirming that Mary is conceived in complete wholeness, God’s dream for each of us.
In today’s first reading, Adam and Eve choose to eat from the forbidden tree. They instantly become aware of their nakedness, their failure, selfishness, and shame and react in great fear of the consequences of their behavior. Adam turns to Eve and blames her, Eve turns to the serpent and blames it and they are all thrown out of Paradise. They rely on themselves and their own egos for wholeness and consolation, breaking the relationship between humans and Creator. But God continues to long for reconnection to “his” creatures.
In today’s gospel, Angel Gabriel announces God’s great love for Mary asking if she will allow God to incarnate through her. Mary says yes. She vulnerably shares her confusion, but Mary is completely whole, not because she is invincible or without fear, but because of her sustained connection to God. She risks everything in accepting that she is completely loved by God. And this is how she herself loves God, all of humanity and herself. Through her love, God “reclaims” us as his beloved children.
I often trust myself and my own emotions over the truth of God’s love for me. I let shame and self-loathing direct my path, entangling and strangling my relationship with others, rather than feeling fully and truly loved by God. But when I risk vulnerability, when I “say yes” to my own wholeness, and allow God to manifest through me, I feel profound love and connection to the goodness in this life despite the world seeming very dark. I love others better when I acknowledge that I am a beloved child of God.
Can you allow yourself to be truly loved by God? What happens to your relationships with others when you feel loved and completely lovable? What feels true to you about God’s plan for your life?
Mary Schimmoller