The joy of the Immaculate Conception fiesta

Excerpts of the Homily of Most Rev. Romulo Valles, D.D., Archbishop of Davao during the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and Fiesta of the University of the Immaculate Conception, San Pedro Cathedral, December 8, 2019.

What is this fiesta?

Today, the whole Catholic community celebrates the feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As a matter of fact, the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, is the patroness of the whole Philippines. Since it is a feast, it is indeed a very joyful celebration.

The joy might be evident and reflected on the various celebration of the school—programs, dances, games, etc. These joyful celebrations become totally valid as long as these are connected to the original, core joy of the fiesta. The joy can be difficult to describe and to appropriate for ourselves. Hence, the joy can be overtaken by the beautiful dances, programs, and other school activities. If we successfully connect the celebration of the feast of the Immaculate Conception to the spiritual gift that we have, we come to realize that the church is Mater et Magistra — the church is mother and teacher.

I thought of this description because She [the Church] is our mother patterned after the motherhood of Mary. In addition, the Church is also a teacher. The Church teaches us various ways for us to follow Christ so that we may enter His Kingdom. Today’s feast of the Church is a good teaching feast.

So what is the joy today?

God is always planning, desiring, and acting. He does this because He wants us to follow the path towards Him. Oftentimes we don’t pay attention to God’s actions. In our life, God is always very active as He plans for our sake. But since we are not pure, we are corrupted, He prepared a place for His Son in the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Today, we ignite the desire to be cleansed and admitted to the presence of the Lord. This is the core joy of this feast. The Blessed Mother is our inspiration because she will always bring us to Jesus, inspire us to know more about Jesus — to truly benefit from our celebration today.

The Lord does not abandon us, he continues to shower us with spiritual blessings. So that as we continue our journey in life, we will be familiar with the voice of the Lord, and not the evil one.

We must keep the faith and strengthen our devotion to the Blessed mother who will always bring us closer to Jesus—the source of life, the source of joy. Jesus Himself is the core joy as we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Viva Jesus, Viva Maria!