Sinlessness. It’s immediately appealing. It’s the way we’re meant to be—free from interior struggle, free from shame, free from hurting others. And yet there’s also something daunting to sinlessness—what can I possibly do to achieve that?
Here’s the key to sinlessness: it is first of all God’s work. We see this clearly in the feast we celebrate today, the Immaculate Conception. God made Mary sinless from the moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, St. Anne. Mary did not earn this great privilege—how could she? She had just begun to exist. The Immaculate Conception is God’s unique gift to Mary, a completely gratuitous, unearned, outpouring of love.
God desires us to be sinless as well, but he brings it about in a different way—the sacrament of Confession. In the gratuity of his love, Jesus gave us an absolutely sure way of having our sins forgiven time and time again. We don’t have to worry about earning God’s favor or trying to become sinless all by ourselves. We simply go to Confession where God freely pours his love upon us.
But sinlessness isn’t the ultimate goal. God wants to do more. He wants to give us himself.
Today’s Gospel illustrates this for us. We celebrate Mary’s Immaculate Conception in the womb of St. Anne, yet in the Gospel we hear of Jesus’ conception. God made Mary sinless for a purpose: to prepare a dwelling place for the Incarnate Son of the Most High. Mary was overshadowed by God the Father, under his loving gaze. The Holy Spirit came upon her, and the Son of God took on flesh in her womb. God’s gift of her Immaculate Conception prepared her to live in this intimate communion with the divine Persons of the Holy Trinity.
In us, too, sinlessness is not the final goal. We don’t go to Confession to get a stamp of approval or a certification that God can look on us favorably now. God leads us to Confession so that we can live in a deeper relationship with him. We too become dwelling places of the living God.
God our Father overshadows us; he lovingly watches over us and guides us. God the Son—Jesus Christ, the light of the world—enters our minds to enlighten us with his truth. God the Holy Spirit enflames our hearts in charity. We enjoy a real communion with the Triune God.
Sinlessness is appealing, but communion with God strikes to the very depths of our longing. That is what we’re made for.
✠
Photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. (used with permission)
