Preparation for our definitive state of life

DECEMBER 8 this year, usually marking the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, is also the 2nd Sunday of Advent which takes precedence over the Marian solemnity. 

 This happy coincidence, through the gospel reading of the day, (cfr. Lk 3,1-6) somehow reminds us that through the merits of Christ’s redemptive work, we need to prepare ourselves, as St. John the Baptist tells us, for our definite state of life as exemplified by our Lady, our Mother, who is now glorified in heaven, body and soul. 

 What our Lady is now enjoying is also what is meant for us as our definitive state of life when we truly become God’s image and likeness, sharers of his divine life and nature. We can just imagine the kind of preparation we have to undertake to achieve that status. 

 And so, we just have to pay close attention to what St. John the Baptist is telling us in the gospel of the day. “John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the books of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’” (Lk 3,3-6) 

 We should heed this call to repentance and conversion which is a constant need of ours, especially these days when, given the temper of the times, this call has become very urgent and most necessary, because it looks like it is largely ignored. 

 We should never think that we do not need further repentance and conversion because we are already good enough. As long as we are still in this world, there is no level in our spiritual life that can be considered as good enough. It’s time we remind ourselves of that old saying, ‘the good is the enemy of the best.’ 

 We need to move on always, to continue conquering new frontiers in our spiritual life which is a matter of growing in our love for God and for others. Let’s avoid falling into self-indulgence, complacency and lukewarmness. These will put a stop, or at least to divert us, in our continuing journey toward our eternal home and they do it with some lulling and most tricky appeal. 

 With love, there is actually no limit. It will continue to make new demands on us, because life itself will also make new challenges and trials on us. Let’s never forget that our life will always be some kind of warfare. We have to contend with many enemies of our soul. 

 What may motivate us to go through this process of continuing repentance and conversion is to always consider the significance of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady which reminds us that like Mary, we are actually meant to be sinless. By going through this process, we would be moving toward the ideal of becoming immaculate also, like our Mother Mary, as God wants us to be. 

 Mary’s Immaculate Conception should make us feel urged to persevere in our struggle to attain that state of sinlessness, which is another way of saying that we are meant to pursue our total identification with Christ, the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. It is not supposed to make us feel privileged and entitled. Quite the contrary. 

It is supposed to demand everything from us, so that we can merit the effects of Christ’s redemptive work.