MISSING THE MARK
The Catholic Church teaches dogmatically that Mary was conceived without sin. The Catechism (paragraph 491) teaches:
“Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, ‘full of grace’ through God (Luke 1:28), was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”
Through the singular merit of Jesus Christ, Mary was preserved from sin in anticipation of her role as the Mother of God. The Immaculate Conception is not really about Mary but about Jesus. It is about the incompatibility of sin with the holiness of God.
As we honor what God has done in Mary, we put our attention on the nature and reality of sin. The Greek word for sin is hamartia, i.e., to miss the mark. It originates from the practice of archers targetting the bull’s eye. Hitting the bull’s eye is a mark of excellence. To miss the mark is to be less than excellent. We often look at sin as a transgression of a law, a norm or precept. Consequently, Christian holiness becomes a burdensome keeping of a set of rules and laws. Christian holiness is much more than that. It is about reaching the best of our potentials and realizing the beautiful plan of God for our lives. The first line of the morality section of the Catechism says it so beautifully and positively, “Christians, recognize your dignity.”
When we sin, we do not just break a cold set of laws. When we sin, we miss the mark — the mark of excellence, the mark of our dignity as persons and as God’s children. How positive and joyful the Christian life will be from this perspective. I refuse to sin because I want to be who I am created to be. I refuse to sin because I want to see the fullness of my beauty as a child of God in this life, and more so, in the next. Fr. Joel O. Jason
Reflection Question:
In everything, try to reach for the stars. If you fail, at least you’d still be at the moon.
O Mary Immaculate, help us to be as beautiful as You are!
St. Romaric, pray for us.
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