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Views from the Choir Loft

Mary is the Immaculate Conception … does that mean that God loves her more?

Corrinne May · December 15, 2022

WAS DRIVING DOWN the freeway for weekday Mass a couple of weeks ago, and I was pondering Mary’s IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, and marvelling at how God must have loved Mary so much as to choose her out of all His creatures, to be His Mother! I remember telling her, in my prayer right there and then, that she was so blessed to be so loved by God. I remember thinking that God probably loves her more than anyone else in all creation. But in that moment, it was as if I heard Our Lady chiding me gently, saying ‘Dear child, God loves you just as much! He doesn’t know how to love you any less than perfectly, for His Love is Perfect.’

Matthew 5:48 • I remember being very struck by that epiphany…God’s love is perfect! He doesn’t love anyone any less than perfectly. He can only love with perfect love because He is perfect! Then I recalled how in scripture, Jesus exhorts us to ‘be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ (Matthew 5:48) Wow…in my limited human understanding of love, for some reason, I felt as if God loved some people more than others. Little children after all, often ask their parents “Do you love me more than my brother?” or “Do you love me more than my sister?” or “Whom do you love the most?” I suppose it was as if I thought that God had a limited supply of love to give, and that if he loved the saints or Mother Mary or Saint Joseph that much, He couldn’t possibly have enough love left to give little old me.

“We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known.” (I Corinthians 13:12)

“As Through A Glass” • In my limited human understanding of love, it felt as if God must love the saints and Mary and Joseph more than me…after all, they were so holy, they lived lives of virtue, Mary was immaculately conceived and sinless and never did anything to displease Our Lord! Yet, I was looking at love from my limited human perspective and understanding. God’s love is Perfect! He doesn’t know how to love any less than perfectly… His love for Mary is perfect. His love for St. Joseph is perfect. His love for little old me is perfect! It’s as if we were all different vessels of various sizes—God’s love fills us to the brim no matter what shape or size we are!

Question Posed • So we are called to be perfect, to love as perfectly as He loves us. To love our neighbor as perfectly as He loves them. It seems like a tall order! And my human heart sometimes fails to grasp at how this is possible. Here again, God comes to the rescue. I remember that not too long ago, like a little child asking this of his parent, I posed this question to God. “God, how do I know, that out of all the billions of people in this world, that if I were the only person here, that you would STILL have chosen to die for me? To be crucified for me?” In other words, I was like that proverbial child, asking his or her parent, if I was worth all their sacrifice, if I was worth their love. If I was lovable enough. With that question posed to God, I went to bed, asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten my mind if He so chose to do so.

Answer Received • The next morning, after I woke up, I had my answer! The answer is in the Eucharist! When we receive Him in the Eucharist, we believe that it is truly God in His entirety, His whole Divinity, His whole Humanity is present in that very host that we receive at Holy Communion. It is entirely Him! He gives His whole, entire SELF to us. And as He is received into our bodies, and the Eucharistic species dissolves within us, consumed by our bodies, He is in a very real way dying to give us life. So yes, I had my answer. The Lord loves me so much that He would indeed, die for me, if I were the only one present in all creation, because He does that every time whenever I receive Him in Holy Communion. As He gives Himself fully to me in that moment, I am His entire world. I am everything to Him in that moment!

Deeper Appreciation • Understanding this has made me appreciate the Eucharist so much more. It has given me new eyes in which to view His love for my neighbor and to marvel that even if I don’t know the person behind me in the communion line, God loves him or her so much, that He is giving His entire self to him or her, and dying for him or her, right there and then. That in itself is inspiration enough to look behind the veil, to view my neighbor, my friend, my spouse, my child through the eyes of a God who loves them so much that He gives Himself completely, with perfect love, to them, each and every time they receive Him in the Holy Eucharist.

What a generous, merciful and loving God we have. Deo gratias!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Immaculate Conception Feast Last Updated: December 15, 2022

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About Corrinne May

Corrinne May is one of Singapore’s most celebrated singer-songwriters. She is also a wife and homeschooling mother.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“The argument moves from the existence of the thing to the correctness of the thing: what is, ought to be. Or, a popular variant: if a thing is, it doesn’t make any difference whether it ought to be—the correct response is to adjust, to learn to live with the thing.”

— ‘L. Brent Bozell, Jr.’

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Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

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