Kecharitoméne

Homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
8 December 2014

        You’re in your room.

        You’re praying, reading, or resting.

        Suddenly an angel appears.

        He doesn’t say your name.

        Rather, he calls to you by something in your ontology. (That is, something that is within the nature of one’s being.)

        He calls you, “kecharitoméne” – “full of grace”.

        This clue of Mary’s ontological state, – who she was at the very core of her being – this being “full of grace”, is not the only thing that Gabriel was acknowledging. Being “full of grace” led him to celebrate Mary’s vocation, as well as to celebrate the ability of the Mystery of the Incarnation to take place with her “yes”.

        Kecharitoméne – “full of grace”: This is what we celebrate here today. It is the very reason that this day is so important. From the very moment of her conception, our Blessed Mother was immaculate, full of grace. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI reminds us that the title “full of grace” “is the most beautiful name of Mary, the one that God Himself gave her, to indicate that she has always been and will always be the beloved, elected, the one chosen to welcome the most precious gift, Jesus, ‘love incarnate of God’ (Deus Caritas East, 12).”

        And yet, Saint Paul uses that same word, kecharitoméne, in his letter to the Ephesians, which we have just heard. In the verb form, the Apostle reminds us that we, too, have the same vocation as Mary, to welcome the most precious gift, Jesus, ‘love incarnate of God’” and bear Him into the world through our discipleship; that we have been chosen from "before the foundation of the world" to carry out this mission.

        Though not conceived immaculately, we are called to ultimately share in the same fullness of grace and joy as Mary did and does. This gift of grace which God bestows upon us is that same grace that the Blessed Mother received in abundance and fullness at the moment of her conception. Pope Saint John Paul II reminds us: The Church's faith and the experience of the saints teach us that grace is a source of joy, and that true joy comes from God. In Mary, as in Christians, the divine gift produces deep joy.

        My brothers and sisters, through our baptism, our vocation is to be kecharitoméne; our common calling through our Christian discipleship is to be full of grace. This is the spiritual reality of the ontological change you and I received at baptism – that at the very core of who we are, we would be open to receive the grace of God in our lives. Mary, then, is the prime example of how we are to live in response to this change in our ontology. In her being “full of grace,” Mary teaches us how to respond to the call of God: with joy, with fidelity, with love.

        In celebrating this great Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we begin to understand our calling to be “full of grace”; we again cry out to the Father to allow us to be kecharitoméne as we struggle and strive to follow His Son through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We celebrate this great Mystery of our Faith so that we may one day, God willing, join our Blessed Mother in that place in which dwells the fullness of grace and joy. We celebrate this day that, just like Mary, our God calls us by a new name – a name to which we must respond to through the gift of His grace, just as our Blessed Mother did.

        It would be wise to remember the words of Pope Francis spoken one year ago today:

The mystery of this girl from Nazareth, who is in the heart of God, is not estranged from us. She is not there and we over here. No, we are connected. Indeed, God rests his loving gaze on every man and every woman! By name and surname. His gaze of love is on every one of us. The Apostle Paul states that God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph 1:4). We too, from all time, were chosen by God to live a holy life, free of sin. It is a plan of love that God renews every time we come to him, especially through the Sacraments.

On this Solemnity, then, by contemplating our beautiful Immaculate Mother, let us also recognize our truest destiny, our deepest vocation: to be loved, to be transformed by love, to be transformed by the beauty of God. Let us look to her, our Mother, and allow her to look upon us, for she is our mother and she loves us so much; let us allow ourselves to be watched over by her so that we may learn how to be more humble, and also more courageous in following the Word of God; to welcome the tender embrace of her Son Jesus, an embrace that gives us life, hope and peace.

        May God continue to gift us the ability to be kecharitoméne.

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Enjoy the journey . . .