The Almighty gave this world into our charge as His stewards. He gave us a garden of surpassing loveliness to care for. What a mess we have made of our stewardship. Spiritually and morally we have turned the garden into a jungle.

Since the Fall from grace of our primordial parents, all human beings come into the world fatally flawed, with an innate talent for uglifying the garden. As a result of the Fall it is always to be expected that we humans shall spoil the picture.

However, the situation is not hopeless. The great Artist, whose creativity far surpasses our most free-ranging imagination, has given us hope to re-inspire us.

Since the Fall, the Enemy has succeeded in daubing and slashing every self-portrait (every human soul) which the Artist makes of Himself. All the human images of God that come into the world arrive spoiled – all except one.

There is one likeness of Himself into which God has poured all His artistry, and which He has not allowed to be damaged in any way. In that unique portrait we see a shining exemplar of what humanity was originally created to be, and what it is destined to become once again.

In the Blessed Virgin Mary, God shows us what Eve, the mother of all living, was intended to be. Indeed, this latter portrait of the New Eve even exceeds the earlier one in its loveliness. In the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Lady, human perfection makes a new appearance.

The Immaculate Conception was the re-forging of the original betrothal between the Creator and His wayward human spouse, our fallen race. The Immaculate Conception was the early start of a renewed nuptial alliance between the Almighty and Eve’s offspring.

This new and everlasting Cana is what we shall celebrate at Christmas. We should pursue the celebration of those nuptials with splendour and gratitude. Christ the celestial Bridegroom comes down from heaven to court His intended spouse. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is what makes that nuptial union possible.