Une Minute avec Marie
Faire connaître et aimer Marie
The meaning of the Immaculate Conception is first and foremost an intrinsic absence of any disconnection from God, an openness to his grace in such a way that sin, always theoretically possible, is never actually chosen.
Adam and Eve were not stained by original sin either. But they did sin, by diverting the gifts of creation to their own selfish ends. Mary did not. And as we have said, this was already the case before she knew anything about the role that was expected of her. Since her being without sin didn’t just stem from her new role, it was therefore a totally free choice on her part.
Because of this, her immaculate heart is an extraordinary sign, humanly inexplicable. On the other hand, it sheds light on her response to the angel: when he announces to her not only a role infinitely exceeding the human condition, she humbly accepts and submits to the divine will: "Let it be done to me according to your word."
This reveals something extraordinary about our human nature: Mary, who is one of us, was able, by her openness to the grace with which she was filled, not only never to sin, even while leading an ordinary human life, but above all she did so through a total openness to God and to his grace.
In this way, Mary sends us a powerful message, even though we are sinners. Mary reveals what a human being can be, what holiness can be - a holiness fully achieved in her case and not in an asymptotic manner.
Let us meditate, then, on the life of Mary, not only on the part we all know, with Jesus in Nazareth and then on Calvary, but also that of young Mary, pure and humble, even before she had any idea of what her exceptional purity and humility would call for in God's plan.