A reading from the gospel according to St. Luke:
“Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” – Luke 1:28
For many Christians around the world, today is called the “Feast of the Immaculate Conception” On this day our attention is directed to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her sinless nature.
Like Mary, and billions of humans before us we all came into this world as innocent babies. Yet, due to the many complications that surround us we often make decisions that fracture our relationship with God, other people, and creation. Our tendency to fracture these relationships is referred to as original sin. Sometimes Christians refer to original sin as human brokenness. Our brokenness twists our will into denying our sin, but being quick to point out the sin of others very quickly.
Image by Mateus Campus Felipe from Unsplash.com
I often fall into this trap of pointing out the faults of others, but slow to recognize my own. Recently, I was talking with a close friend of mine, who is very good at holding me accountable. I was upset and complaining. He patiently listened to me vent and instead of affirming me, he told me the following words, “The only reason I have any good in me is because of God.”
His words stung almost immediately as thoughts of my own brokenness rushed into my mind. Imagine that on your desk in front of you, you were to lay out all the things that you are ashamed of from your life for everyone to see. Thinking about this makes me take my own brokenness more seriously.
The good news is that we are not destined to remain broken forever. We are God’s “work in progress.” We can start this process of restoration by saying “yes” to God, just as Mary did on the evening when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her. Saying “yes” to God takes courage, because it’s a realization that we can’t control everything, it’s trusting in our Heavenly Father, that His plans for us are greater than we can conceive of on our own.
Let us pray,
