December 8, 2025 • A Franciscan
Reflection
Today's Readings: Genesis 3:9-15, 20 / Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 / Luke 1:26-38
Let's Be Clear From the Start
The Immaculate Conception is about Mary's conception, the moment
God filled her with sanctifying grace from the very first instant of her
existence. The word "immaculate" means spotless. Mary was preserved
from original sin. Not because she earned it, but because God prepared her for
what He was asking.
He filled her with grace before she even knew she needed it.
Here's the truth: If you could make your own mother, wouldn't you free
her from original sin? Jesus did. He reached back through time and applied the
merits of His cross to save her perfectly, not just from sin, but from ever
having it in the first place.
Mary never sinned. Not once. She was at perfect enmity with Satan,
exactly as God promised in Genesis 3:15. She's the first and best disciple, and
no one was more perfectly saved in all of salvation history.
The Scene That Changed Everything
An angel appears to a young girl in Nazareth: "Hail, full of
grace! The Lord is with you."
Mary is troubled. Not by the angel, by the words. What does
"full of grace" mean?
The angel continues: "You will conceive and bear a son, and you
shall name him Jesus."
Mary asks: "How can this be, since I have no relations with a
man?"
"The Holy Spirit will overshadow you."
Then Mary speaks:
"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me
according to your word."
No negotiation. No conditions. Just yes.
Paul tells us this was always the plan, God chose us before the
foundation of the world to be holy and blameless. And Genesis shows why: the
serpent, the fall, death. But even in the curse, there's a promise: the woman's
offspring will crush the serpent's head.
"Full of Grace"
The Greek word is kecharitomene, a perfect passive participle.
Mary has been graced, completely, already. The angel isn't saying she will
be full of grace. She IS full of grace. It already happened.
Notice her response. She doesn't say "let me think about it."
She doesn't ask about her reputation, Joseph, or her plans. She just
surrenders: "May it be done to me according to your word."
This is what being full of grace looks like: the capacity to say yes
to God even when His plan makes no sense, costs everything, and will be
misunderstood by everyone.
Paul says we were chosen for this too. God prepares us, fills us with
grace, and asks for our yes.
Will we say it?
The New Eve
A woman was there at the fall. A woman had to be there at the redemption.
Eve: Virginal, pure, without original sin. A fallen angel brought lies. She
listened, cooperated, grasped. Result? Death.
Mary: Virginal, pure, without original sin. Gabriel brought truth. She
listened, surrendered, received. Result? Life.
Eve heard a lie and believed it. Mary heard the truth and trusted it.
Eve wanted to be like God. Mary was content to be God's handmaid.
When sin entered the world, who fell? Both man and woman. So, who needs
to be involved in redemption? Both man and woman. The Second Adam needed
the Second Eve. Mary's role isn't incidental, it's essential.
Mary knew the risks: stoning for adultery, losing Joseph, ruining her
reputation, breaking her vow of virginity. She said yes anyway.
Eve's tragedy: She had everything and threw it away.
Mary's triumph: She had nothing and gave it all.
The New Eve didn't repeat the old story. She reversed it.
The Queen Mother
In ancient Israel, which wife was the queen? The mother. They
called her the gebirah, the great lady who sat at the king's right hand
and interceded for the people.
Mary is the gebirah of the King of Kings.
But she's also the New Ark of the Covenant. The Holy Spirit
"overshadowed" her, the same word used when God overshadowed the Ark
in the temple.
The old Ark contained: the Word (stone tablets), the Bread (manna), the
High Priest's staff.
Mary carried: the Word made Flesh, the true Bread of Life, our High
Priest.
Her womb was the Holy of Holies, holier than the temple itself.
What This Means for You
Mary said yes knowing it could cost her everything. Her yes enabled a
world of possibility.
Your yes to God enables a world of possibility too.
Yes, we weren't immaculately conceived. But we have the same Holy Spirit,
the same power of God to cooperate and become saints. What happened to Mary
will happen to all God's saints, assumed into heaven, worshiping God forever.
The question is simple: Will you say yes?
Your Reflection Questions
- What would being "full of
grace" look like in your actual life?
- What is God asking you to say yes
to?
- What conditions are you putting
on your surrender? "Yes, but..." "Yes, if..."
- Can you trust that God has
already prepared you for what He's calling you to?
This Week's Challenge
Pray the Angelus three times daily (morning, noon, evening – 6am,12noon,6pm):
The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. (Hail Mary...)
Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it done unto me according to thy word. (Hail Mary...)
And the Word was made flesh,
And dwelt among us. (Hail Mary...)
Each time ask: Where is God asking me to carry Jesus today?
Then say with Mary: "May it be done to me according to your
word."
Closing Prayer
Mary, full of grace, you said yes when it made no sense. Teach me that
kind of faith. Ask your Son to fill me with the grace I need to say yes. Not
halfway. Not conditionally. Not later. Now. Today. May it be done to me
according to His word.
Mary's yes began in her Immaculate Conception and continued to Calvary.
Your yes begins today.
Say it: "May it be done to me according to your word."
The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
December 8, 2025
A Franciscan Reflection
©2025 James Dacey, Jr., OFS
