Digital Marian Helper Winter_2019

Her Immaculate Conception foreshadows what’s in store for us. We’re all called to holiness, to be freed from sin through the Sacraments, especially Baptism and Rec- onciliation. After all, God has a unique role for each of us to play in His plan of salvation. This is the reason that St. Paul, in his Letter to the Ephesians, would cry out that God’s greatest dream for His children was that they would be “holy and immacu- late” (1:4). Mary’s gift is our future, if we allow the seed of Christian baptismal grace to grow and flower within us. The same power of God that kept Mary away from the grasp of Satan is found hidden within us. When we look to Mary —when we pray to her, conse- crate ourselves to her, and model our lives on her virtues —we are brought closer to her and to her Spouse, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit that filled the Immaculate Virgin in the first moment of her conception starts to stir within us, and that same power of baptismal grace awakens and grows within us with a powerful strength. In The Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien provides a valuable literary image for this great mystery of the Immaculate Conception. During their final journey to Mount Doom (where they must cast the Ring into the fire to destroy it) the two hobbits, Frodo and Sam, are quite discouraged. They are in the land of Mordor: a lifeless, dark, and gloomy place. Sam, unable to sleep, gets up and stares into the night sky. Tolkien writes: There, peeping among the cloud-wrack about a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadowwas only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. …He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo’s side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep. [Italics mine.] The white star smote the heart of Sam precisely because it was untouched, beautifully shining high above the sulfurous clouds. It seemed like the one thing in all of creation that could not be touched by the evil of Mordor. By encountering unstained beauty, Sam understood that the created order contained some- thing preserved against corruption. No matter how all- consuming the force of evil seemed, darkness has its limit, and another power of greater strength could push back and ultimately defeat it. When Sam sees the white star, he recognizes the ulti- mate powerlessness of the Shadow. Fear is cast out. He receives the grace of peace and hope. So, too, with us: By gazing upon the Immaculate Conception, the Christ light begins to grow brighter, pushing back the chains of sin. In the Im- maculate Conception, we see mankind’s original design. Another way to look upon this mystery is through the unlikely lens of dystopian stories such as “The Matrix” or “The Hunger Games.” Typically in such stories, humanity is imprisoned in some way — and it’s the only life they’ve ever known. Until one day, someone comes along who doesn’t fit into the system, and the system seems power- less to control this person. Terrified, the controllers of the system try to snuff out this individual who is preserved from the corruption of the prison. What usually happens in these tales? When the impris- oned people start to see someone like themwalk unscathed, pushing away the guards like they were straw, they are stirred with courage and they rise up to overthrow the system. Their affinity with that “chosen one” enables them to realize that the absolute power of the system was a mere façade. Mary is blessed of all women (see Lk 1:42), chosen from all humanity to be given the full flowering of Christian grace. She walked among humanity as the only human person preserved from the prison system of original sin. (Remember, her Son is a Divine Person!) When we encounter this white star, she says to us: “My dear one, you don’t have to live forever under the yoke of sin and death. There is another power stronger than the power of the Dark Lord. Behold my Immaculate Concep- tion, and see within it that same power of God wanting to break you free from living under the shadow.” As we look toward the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, remember that Mary’s Immaculate Concep- tion was not just for herself. It’s the gift of strength avail- able for us all! May Mary’s Immaculate Conception be our health and our protection! Father Andy Davy, MIC, i s pastor of St. Mary Parish in Plano, Illinois. M arian H elper • W inter 2019-20 • marian . org 21