Student Reflection: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

你好, my name is Luis Avalos from the class of 2024 and I’d like to welcome you for today's Mass celebrating the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Today is designated to celebrate Mary’s conception without sin, including the original sin present in all humans since their birth. Her conception free from sin was in preparation for her becoming the mother of God, 耶稣基督, 谁是 漂亮的 important character in our faith, if I do say so myself.

I am not going to stand 在这里 and lie to you all.如实, I have never had that struggle in my faith w在这里 I thought, “Oh, God can not be real because of what I’ve just gone through,” or “God would never let something like this happen.“但, in a life w在这里 I’ve experienced many difficult things (evictions from my home, the sudden deaths of relatives and well, let’s just say "relationship issues" in the past), God has been the only constant in my life. 不幸的是, we don’t get to choose the lives we’re born into, nor do we get to control the roller coaster that life is. One thing we can all control, no matter what, is our faith and how that will impact our lives. We can choose to allow God to walk alongside us, and trust that he will help us through difficult times.  We can choose to trust that He has a plan for us, just like He did for Mary.  We can choose to believe that despite the difficulties we might face in life, God can do miraculous things- things like healing a relative, giving us the courage to leave a difficult situation or relationship, or even allow for the conception of a person without original sin, and then allow that woman to conceive a child through the help of the Holy Spirit.

作为esball世博的学生, we’re oftentimes scared and worried about things we can’t control: “Will my teacher give me a test this day? Will I get into this college, or will I get into this summer program?“一天结束的时候, we don't make that decision; somebody else does, but we can prepare ourselves as best as we can, and trust that God will help us with the rest. When we face our doubts and uncertainties, let us turn to the witness of Mary.  We can recall that God had faith in Mary to conceive His only Son. From the moment of her conception she was spared from sin — she was “immaculate.” Mary could not have known in the moment of her "yes" all that she was saying yes to, but she knew that God had a plan. With the grace of her immaculate birth and through the faith built through her relationship with God, she could trust in Him and accept her role as Mary, 天后, 我们主的母亲.

I invite us — you and me — to embrace the uncertainty in our lives, and to embrace our relationships with God just like Mary did.  God has given us graces to help us say “yes”' just like Mary to His plan. In the words of a famous poet, “Life is such a roller coaster—then it drops, but what should I scream for? 这是我的主题公园.” It is in these “drops” w在这里 the only certain thing you may have in your life is your faith, 所以记得拥抱它, just as the immaculate conception of Mary prepared her to embrace her role as the Mother of God. 谢谢你！.