MARY IMMACULATE
THE MYSTERY
THE MYSTERY
3. Universality of Sin.
But worst of all, Adam's sin was universal for the whole of mankind.
Adam was not just a private individual. He was the fountainhead of human life. From him all other men were to take origin. He was, then, the representative of humanity. All of us were included in him. Now, everything that God gave him was not for him exclusively, but for everybody. All of us were supposed to become equal to him. In this is no injustice whatsoever. If a father is enormously rich, his children also will be rich. But if this father squanders away his estate and becomes penniless, his children, through no fault of theirs, will be born in poverty. That is what happened to us. No one was richer than Adam. God desired we also should be rich in grace. However, Adam lost everything and now we are born in poverty. A great pity, indeed, but a great truth.
She should have been born like ourselves.
But God says no. He exempts Her and Her alone. She is born just as She was shaped by God, pure, spotless, immaculate. Pause to admire her beauty. Congratulate Mary in being Immaculate.
See the angels escorting Her with palms and celebrating Her entry into the world. A triumphal entry which far from being a defeat like ours, is a victory scored over the serpent. With the angels sing the praises of Our Lady as She appears in the world so beautiful and shining. There has never been, nor will there ever be, a whiter flower than the soul of Mary at Her Conception.
Think also that since She was sinless, She was not bound either by the law of suffering or of death. Nevertheless, God wanted Her to suffer and die that She should be similar to that Son of Hers who embraced the cross for our love. Suffering was not in Her a punishment, as it is with us, but just a token of Her love for God and of Her imitation of Jesus, as it also was a token of Her love for men and an example for our consolation.
Thank Her for this and be courageous when comes the time for you to suffer like your Mother and embrace the Cross as She did.
[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]
But worst of all, Adam's sin was universal for the whole of mankind.
Adam was not just a private individual. He was the fountainhead of human life. From him all other men were to take origin. He was, then, the representative of humanity. All of us were included in him. Now, everything that God gave him was not for him exclusively, but for everybody. All of us were supposed to become equal to him. In this is no injustice whatsoever. If a father is enormously rich, his children also will be rich. But if this father squanders away his estate and becomes penniless, his children, through no fault of theirs, will be born in poverty. That is what happened to us. No one was richer than Adam. God desired we also should be rich in grace. However, Adam lost everything and now we are born in poverty. A great pity, indeed, but a great truth.
She should have been born like ourselves.
But God says no. He exempts Her and Her alone. She is born just as She was shaped by God, pure, spotless, immaculate. Pause to admire her beauty. Congratulate Mary in being Immaculate.
See the angels escorting Her with palms and celebrating Her entry into the world. A triumphal entry which far from being a defeat like ours, is a victory scored over the serpent. With the angels sing the praises of Our Lady as She appears in the world so beautiful and shining. There has never been, nor will there ever be, a whiter flower than the soul of Mary at Her Conception.
Think also that since She was sinless, She was not bound either by the law of suffering or of death. Nevertheless, God wanted Her to suffer and die that She should be similar to that Son of Hers who embraced the cross for our love. Suffering was not in Her a punishment, as it is with us, but just a token of Her love for God and of Her imitation of Jesus, as it also was a token of Her love for men and an example for our consolation.
Thank Her for this and be courageous when comes the time for you to suffer like your Mother and embrace the Cross as She did.
[From 'Marian Meditations' Book]
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