Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception 2024

There is a ficus tree in my living that I have had for several years.  My parents gave it to me.  It looks rather full, but if you look closer you will notice something strange about it.  You will see that the main trunk was actually cut at the base and that the tree is made up of shoots and branches that grew out of the base of the tree.  Many years ago my dad decided that the tree needed some pruning.  And as he took shears to the thing, he quickly realized that he made a terrible mistake.  Rather than prune away shoots and branches, he cut the entire trunk of the tree.  And yet, as I mentioned, the tree survived and over the years it filled out.

In one of the many verses of “O Come O Come Emmanuel” there is a verse that goes

“O come, O Branch of Jesse's stem, unto your own and rescue them! From depths of hell your people save, and give them victory o'er the grave.”

This refers to Isaiah’s prophecy that “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1).

A common understanding of this prophecy is that the stump of Jesses refers to the kingdom of Israel.  This beaten and battered nation with a long history of tragedies and disappointments clings to the promise of a savior as it is crushed and its members are taken into exile.  Israel, once a magnificent tree, is reduced to a stump.  But from this gnarled old stump a slender shoot shall spring up.  And this shoot will bear a fruit.  Mary is the shoot, Christ is the fruit.

If you saw my ficus tree today, you would never guess it was once reduced to a stump.  The shoots have grown so fully that the tree now looks whole.  Similarly, by her participation in God’s plan of salvation, Mary serves as the connection between old Israel, gnarled and lifeless, and the new Israel, vibrant and restored which is found in the Church.

Today, as we celebrate the feast of her Immaculate Conception, we celebrate the first budding of this shoot.  Just as the first green sprout in spring breaks through a frozen, barren earth, signaling the end of winter, Mary’s Immaculate Conception signals the end of sin’s grip on humanity.  It is the beginning of God’s great restoration—a quiet, unremarkable moment that heralds the dawn of salvation.

Unlike Christmas, there were no angels singing at the Immaculate Conception, no shining star to mark the event.  Yet this humble moment was a kind of beginning for the Advent of Christ.  With Mary’s Immaculate Conception, the Old Testament comes to its fulfillment, and a new chapter of salvation history begins.

Mary, the shoot from the stump of Jesse, gives us hope—a hope rooted in her Son, Jesus Christ.  Through her participation in God’s plan of salvation, life has come into the world again.  As we honor her Immaculate Conception, we are reminded of the promise of that hope found in the shoot that came forth from the stump of Jesse.  And in a couple weeks, we will celebrate the fruit that this shoot bore.