Mary's Immaculate Conception: Jesus' gift of redemption given to Mary from conception

In the opening prayer of today’s Mass, we ask that, just  as God preserved Mary from every stain of sin by virtue of Jesus’ death on the cross,  we, too, through Mary’s intercession, want to be purified and welcomed into God’s divine presence.  This led me to ponder our journey through this life, which involves being purified as gold is purified in fire through the everyday experiences of our lives. There is no other way to become worthy of entering into the presence of our God.  That purification, here, occurs as it did for Adam and Eve, as related in today’s first reading, that is, each time we, as adult Christians, try to be like God, disobeying His commands and doing it our way, living independently of God and of others, whether married or in religious life or single (in relationships with friends, co-workers, fellow parishioners  in church ministries), refusing to accept responsibility for our disobedience, we are caught naked before God, ourselves and others.  Our attempts to hide are futile. God brings us face to face with who we really are, what the consequences of our disobedience are and how we now need to live with those consequences in a way that leads to our transformation, that is, our being a follower of a Higher Will and a greater Intelligence than our own while also realizing that all of our actions effect those with whom we live, work and enjoy leisure time. We are interdependent, interrelated  human being who are meant to be in communion with God and others.  That ability to commune respectfully with God and others begins with being honest with ourselves and not entering into the blame game which both Adam and Eve had done.