Today the Church celebrates the Immaculate Conception, promulgated by Pius IX in 1854. This is not a Biblical feast but reflects the theological conclusion that Mary was chosen from the first moment of her existence to be worthy as the Mother of God. What the Bible does teach us is that Mary’s exceptional nature as “full of grace” is shared by all those Christ has redeemed “by adoption.” St. Paul says that God “chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.” Just as Mary was chosen, so we are chosen. Hence the modern title of Mary as “Mother of the Church” reminds us that we, like her, have access to Christ’s redeeming grace. A current theologian, Elizabeth Johnson, captures the common vocation we have with Mary as disciples of Christ in the title of her book, Truly our Sister. We are invited today to join with Mary in praying “May it be done to me according to your word.”
