74 The Immaculate Conception as a Way of Being the Paschal Man I am a Marian The paschal event which Mary experienced in the fi rst moments of her existence, called in dogma the “Immaculate Conception” constitutes the “way of existence of the Marian Congregation.” We can say even more. It is the “way” of existence for the Church which resulted from the Paschal mystery of the Word Incarnate. The Church, born of the mystery of Christ, reveals itself as “holy and immaculate.” The paschal-ecclesial mystery of the Immaculate Conception received a cosmic-eschatological dimension. The“newness” initiated in the Immaculate Conception proclaims the transformed face of the universe, renewed and deifi ed, revealing the “new heaven and earth.” Using the notion: “Immaculate Conception” which by necessity is abstract, we cannot forget that we are talking about a person, that it is Mary, one of us, who brings for us the reality of the “new way of existence.” The breakthrough event, which should also be called paschal, in the life of each of us was undoubtedly accepting the gift of “being in Christ,” the grace of the Christian vocation initiated by baptism and confi rmed with our choosing the good following the inspiration of the Spirit of Truth. It has pleased God to speak to the world in many different ways, to bring people to Himself through many different paths, but always in Jesus Christ. The face of the Church reveals the traits of each of us. The clearer they are, the easier it is to recognize the Lord, while their variety and uniqueness which make up her reality, confi rm the impenetrable richness of Christ. Out of this richness of Christ, the Church receives the gift of the Marian vocation, so that those who receive Him are witnesses to the new way of existence, in Christ, for Christ, in the Holy Spirit, toward the love of the Father in heaven. Mary, as the fi rst, received this vocation and in her we can also see its complete fulfi llment. We have also been invited to take up this path. In our “starting point” or “fi at” which is the response to the invitation of the Master of Nazareth, our new name has been revealed—Marian. Due to God’s predilection, it expresses a new way of existence and a mission to fulfi ll. We have accepted the gift and enriched ourselves with it and we have to pass it on to others with joy. This gift—the charism which constitutes our name is: the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of our Lord. Only this gift allows me now to understand who I am and who I should be. Only this gift defi nes my place within the Church and in the world. It alone is the “key” to reading my everyday life. It alone is the icon which opens to the horizon into future in God. It is also the language in which Christ wants to lead a dialogue of love and salvation with me.
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