in the valley of imperfection looking up to Mary

There are two important solemnities of Mary in the liturgy namely, the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, both of which are dogmas of faith. Mary was conceived without sin in view of her role as the Mother of God and Mary was assumed into heaven body and soul again in consideration of her role the Mother of God. These solemnities play a very unique role in our pilgrimage as Christians, in our struggle to become holy, and in our aim to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. And what is this unique role - Mary is the icon of hope for she reveals to us what we will later become. Like Mary we will one day become sinless and like Mary we will one day be assumed into heaven body and soul. Thus, in the words of the preface of the Assumption, these privileges of Mary are the beginning and pattern of the church in its perfection, and they are signs of hope and comfort for us who are on our pilgrim way.
I have taken these dogmas of our faith as a starting point because I want to emphasize one thing in our theme this morning - perfection is not something that we do for God but something that God does for us.


Mary is the perfect image of what a person should become not because of what she did for God but because of what God has done for her. In the magnificat she said, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant, from this day all generation shall call me blessed, the almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name. In the magnificat Mary acknowledged that it was not her own doing that she stumbled upon blessedness but it was the almighty who has done great things for her. She is the immaculate conception because the almighty has looked with favor on his lowly servant and she was assumed into heaven and now sits as queen because the almighty has done great things for her.
Man and woman have been and will always be susceptible to the temptation of self-reliance. Ever since Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad against the expressed wishes of God, we began insisting and are insisting even now that we can do things on our own. We cannot wait for God. Adam and Eve wanted to attain knowledge of what is good and bad on their own terms by eating of the forbidden fruit. The people who built the tower of Babel wanted to reach heaven on their own according to their own terms. They could not wait for God. The kings of Israel wanted to know their number declaring a census and a head count of the chosen people wanting to take matters into their hands rather than relying on the promises of God. In their fear of being invaded and conquered, the kings of Israel formed alliances with their pagan neighbors thinking that it would be a more reliable defence, instead of relying on God’s power to save. Even today we succumb to the same temptation. We want to eradicate poverty but we could only do as much for only God can eradicate poverty. We want to fight injustices, well and good, but we could only do as much for in reality only God can establish a truly just society. We want to abolish graft and corruption - well and good but we could only do as much for in reality only God can truly and fully eradicate all the greed and selfishness that fuels our tendency to corrupt. We want to establish a real community where love is lived, where conflicts are extinct, where envy and jealousy are non-existent. Well and good, but we could only do as much for only God can perfect our love and make our community a paradise. We want to do away with sin in our heart, no more covetousness, no more pride, no more anger, no more lust, no more struggles against sin of any kind. Well and good, but we could only do as much for only God can make us perfect, only God can make us complete.
Indeed we will do what we can, we will strive with all the strength that is allowed us, but we should not expect too much from ourselves for in the end only God can perfect our nature, only God can bring us to perfection.
In the end I prefer to live today in the valley of imperfection where I can look on Mary with hope, believing and knowing that one day God will do for me what he has done for Mary.