Pope Benedict's Angelus reflection on the Immaculate Conception
(December 08, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI urged the Catholics that they should be holy and Immaculate like the Blessed Virgin Mary who is sinless and is the hope of humankind. The Pontiff said this in his Angelus message on Thursday 8th of December on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Speaking in Italian the Pope recalled the dogma given by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1854, that Mary "was preserved by special grace and privilege of almighty God, in anticipation of the merits of Jesus Christ the Saviour of mankind, free from all stain of original sin." Further the Pope reflecting on the Annunciation narrative drew attention to the greeting of the Angel Gabriel to Mary: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." The expression "full of grace" indicates the marvellous work of God, who wanted to give us back the life and liberty, lost by sin, through His only begotten Son incarnate, dead and risen. Therefore, since the second century in the East and West, the Church has prayed and celebrated the feast of the Virgin, as her "yes", brought heaven to earth and thus becoming "a generator of God and nurturing of our divine lives", as observed by the saints. Pope Benedict said that we too are given the "fullness of grace" and that we need to make it shine in our lives, because as St Paul says: "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing ... and he chose us before the foundation of the world we should be holy and blameless for him and has destined us to be his sons.” We all receive this sonship through the Church, on the day of our Baptism. At the end of the Angelus, the Pontiff addressing the English speaking audience said that in her sinless perfection, Mary is a great sign of hope for the Church and for the world, a sign of the marvels that God’s grace can accomplish in us, his human creatures. In these days of Advent, in company with the holy and immaculate Mother of God, let us prepare to welcome her Son into our lives and into our hearts.
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