Bulletins

December 7, 2014

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The Day of Infamy is followed by the Day of Incredulity.

Now that high school students need to be taught about the attacks of September 11, 2001 because they were too young to remember them, we can appreciate the effort required to make sure an historic event is not forgotten, even one that was seen on live television.

Tomorrow we remember an event which nobody witnessed: the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady in the womb of her mother St. Ann. The Blessed Virgin Mary, “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin.” So declared Pope Pius IX in 1854. The Archangel Gabriel said as much when he paid homage to the Virgin over two thousand years ago: “Hail, full of grace!”

Try to imagine the day when our high school students will need to be taught that it used to be common for children to be born of a man and a woman who were married to each other. That day might be soon. 40.6% of all births in 2013 were “nonmarital”, compared to 40.7% in 2012, the statistics and terminology are courtesy of the National Vital Statistics Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I shall forego the temptation to comment on the various ironies. For now it seems impossible to imagine the day when the same students will need to be reminded that most people still conceive children the natural way. God made that easy.

But what is already missing from present-day society is a profound reverence for what God accomplishes when He creates a new human being, bringing into existence a soul that will live for all eternity. Within the love of Joachim and Ann a super abundant grace of God worked something even more glorious than the usual miracle of life. This coming day to remember the multi-faceted marvel of Our Lady’s being conceived might help us remember what we forgot.

Saint Ambrose, pray for us!
Saints Joachim and Ann, pray for us!
Saint Juan, Diego, pray for us!
Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us!
Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us!
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

God bless you.

Fr. Christopher J. Pollard