December 10, 2025 // Bishop

Celebrating Mary’s Immaculate Conception

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades

The following homily was given by Bishop Rhoades on Monday, December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Ege.

Today we celebrate one of the most beautiful feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary: the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The mystery of the Immaculate Conception of Mary reminds us of two fundamental truths of our faith: first, original sin, and second, the victory over sin through Christ’s grace, a victory that shines in a sublime way in Mary Most Holy.

The existence of original sin is glaringly obvious if we look around us, if we read or see the news, and also if we look within ourselves. We see the tragic consequences of the disobedience of Adam and Eve and a world virtually inundated by sin throughout human history. In his first letter, St. John wrote that “the whole world is in the power of the evil one.” The evil one, Satan, symbolized by the serpent in Genesis, is the father of lies who deceived our first parents.

The Second Vatican Council described this situation after the fall as a battle. We read the following in Gaudium et Spes: “The whole of man’s history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so Our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last day. Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God’s grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity.”

The good news is that, after the fall, God did not abandon humanity. In fact, God announced that there would be victory over evil and that man would be restored to grace, to friendship with God. God said to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel” (Gn 3:9). This verse in Genesis is called the Protoevangelium, the first Gospel. It was truly good news. It was “the first announcement of the Messiah and Redeemer, of a battle between the serpent and the woman, and of the final victory of her offspring” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 410). The woman is clearly Mary, the mother of Christ. She was uniquely associated with her Son’s victory over sin since she was preserved from all stain of sin by a special grace of God. That’s what we celebrate today, that God kept Mary sinless from the first moment of her existence by virtue of the merits of her Son. She was redeemed by Him from the moment of her conception. And, by the grace of God and her cooperation with that grace, Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

Mary reflects the beauty of God resplendent on the face of her Son, the beauty that saves the world. In Mary, this beauty is totally pure and humble, free from all pride and presumption, as expressed in her words at the Annunciation: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary is the new Eve whose obedience overcame Eve’s disobedience. Her Son is the new Adam. By His obedience unto death, Jesus made amends superabundantly for the disobedience of Adam.

Looking at Mary, we recognize the loftiness and beauty of God’s plan for us all: to become holy and without blemish, as we heard in the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. In Mary’s Immaculate Conception shines forth our vocation to holiness. She’s our sure guide and unfailing support in our fight against sin and a constant encouragement for us to live in deeper communion with her Son, to adhere to Him with a living faith, to place our trust and hope in Him, and to love Him with our whole being. We can always count on her intercession as our tender, loving Mother.

As you know, the Immaculate Conception is the patroness of our diocese and of our nation. She is also the patroness of your parish here in Ege. When German settlers built a very small mission church here in 1864, this area was called Girardot Settlement. Our diocese had just been established seven years earlier, and the first bishop was a German immigrant, Bishop John Henry Luers. In 1875, a more spacious frame church was built. And this, your beautiful parish church today, was built in 1923.

Through all these years, God has been worshipped here, and our Blessed Mother has been honored here. I pray that on this, her feast, when we celebrate her beauty, goodness, and purity, we may be aroused to imitate her. She was the first and greatest disciple of her Son. She is the holiest of all the saints. We call her “the Queen of All Saints.” May our Immaculate Mother intercede for you and all the parishioners of this parish, and for our diocese and our nation. May she help all of us to grow in holiness, to grow in God’s grace through lives of faith, hope, and charity! May she always be at our side, interceding for us in our spiritual battle. She is Our Mother of Perpetual Help, helping us to open our hearts to God’s grace like she did and guiding us in the way of her Son, the path of salvation!

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!