20251208 OVERCOMING SIN AND EVIL
08 December 2025, Monday, The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
First reading |
Genesis 3:9-15,20 |
The mother of all those who live
After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’
Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,
‘Be accursed beyond all cattle,
all wild beasts.
You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust
every day of your life.
I will make you enemies of each other:
you and the woman,
your offspring and her offspring.
It will crush your head
and you will strike its heel.’
The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 97(98):1-4 |
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
Second reading |
Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12 |
Before the world was made, God chose us in Christ
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ
for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace,
his free gift to us in the Beloved,
And it is in him that we were claimed as God’s own,
chosen from the beginning,
under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things
as he decides by his own will;
chosen to be,
for his greater glory,
the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Lk1:28 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!
Blessed art thou among women.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 1:26-38 |
'I am the handmaid of the Lord'
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
OVERCOMING SIN AND EVIL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Gen 3:9-15.20; Ps 98:1-4; Eph 1:3-6.11-12; Lk 1:26-38]
Are we richer and better today, or is the world poorer? As the world becomes more advanced and the standard of living improves because of technological and scientific progress – with life-spans increasing – yet, more than ever, the world is becoming increasingly unsafe to live in and more divisive, ironically because of digital and social communication. The world seems poorer because human life is no longer treated with respect and dignity. The dignity of marriage and family is no longer held as sacred.
With secularism and relativism, we see the consequence of a world order lived without a consciousness of sin and morality, because God is no longer acknowledged. Terrorist activities and crimes are also on the rise, and social ills are becoming widespread – whether gambling, pornography, paedophilia, rape, molestation, voyeurism, drug consumption, suicide, or insane murders. So what does society do? We condemn such acts in society. We strengthen laws and impose harsher punishments on those who commit crimes. Yet we are merely dealing with the consequences, without getting to the origin and source of our moral ills. If laws could prevent crimes from taking place, then no one would commit any crime – especially in Singapore, where there is no place to run. Why do people still commit rape and molest when they know the severity of the punishment? Why do people cheat, knowing that they will be caught? Why do people traffic in drugs, kill, or murder when they know they will be sentenced to death?
What is the cause of crimes, sins and division? Finding the cause is the key to fostering peace, harmony and progress in a country and in our own lives. Let us not simply blame those who commit crimes and sins. Laws are, at best, preventive measures, but they do not heal the human heart. Knowing the law does not make a person moral. Why is the world in this situation?
The Church teaches that diagnosis of the human condition traces back to Original Sin. We are all wounded in our nature. Evil comes from man, who is wounded by sin. This is what Original Sin means: we share in the wounded nature of Adam – fear of death and pain, lack of control over sensual appetites, and ignorance. As a consequence, man, by this wounded nature, finds it difficult to resist temptations of the world – for glory, power and wealth. When a person is spiritually weak, ignorant of what is truly good for him, and susceptible to temptations, he falls easily to the deceptions and illusions offered by the world. Prompted by the Devil, man finds it difficult to resist sin and temptation.
Indeed, we live in a broken and fragmented world. In the first reading, the author speaks of the ongoing battle between good and evil, between God and Satan. After the fall of Adam and Eve, the Lord said to the serpent, “I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.” Indeed, this battle is still being fought with greater vengeance today, with the Devil using secularism, humanism – making themselves God – and occult worship and activities, and dealings with the spirit world. In some countries, Satanism is recognised as a religion. Books on occult and worship of demons are even sold to children. Moral relativism has totally eroded our ability to discern good from evil, leading many to believe that there is no sin, no morality, and no right or wrong. When the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed in 1854, Archbishop Fulton Sheen observed that many were scandalised, saying, “how could we say that Mary is sinless. We are all sinners!” Ironically today, everyone is saying that he or she is sinless!
In celebrating the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we are reminded of our fundamental calling in life – a call to holiness and wholesomeness. In the second reading, St Paul explains God’s plan for humanity. It is the Father’s will and plan for us, even “before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be and spotless, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ for his own purposes, to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved.” Indeed, we are called to live a holy and spotless life so that our lives will be wholesome and integrated. Holiness is to live a life of integrity – a life that does not destroy oneself, whether one’s body, mind, or spirit, nor destroy the lives of others. When we keep ourselves bodily and spiritually sound, the entire human person is well. Most of our sicknesses in life are due to our sins and from failure to care for our moral, bodily, and spiritual well-being. To live a life of holiness is to live a holistic, balanced life.
Only by living a life of holiness and blamelessness, free from sin, are we living the life of God as His adopted sons and daughters. To be God’s children means that we are called to share in His life and love. In this way, we become His glory for all to see. Indeed, “it is in him that we were claimed as God’s own, chosen from the beginning, under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things as he decides by his own will; chosen to be, for his greater glory, the people who put their hopes in Christ before he came.”
To help us to live this kind of life, God chose us in Christ for all eternity. “Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.” Only in Christ, can we live this kind of life by following Him and, most of all, be filled with His grace and love. The truth is that living the life of Christ is only possible through His grace alone. It is not by our will alone that we can do good and live a holy life. It is the grace of God. The holiness of Mary is God’s favour, not her own merits. The angel said to her, “Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”
In celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Mary becomes for us a symbol of hope for us in striving for holiness and winning our victory over sin, death. and the temptations of the Evil One. The Church, reflecting in hindsight on her life of grace, and strengthened by Scripture, came to understand that Mary’s holiness began at her conception. Mary – who would conceive the Messiah – was preserved from Original Sin through the pre-emptive grace of Christ’s passion and resurrection, as St Paul hinted. We are all predestined to share in Christ’s holiness through Him and His love, just as Mary did before the coming of Christ into the world. In view of Mary’s role as the Mother of the Saviour and her victory over sin and the Evil One, she was protected from original sin through Christ’s anticipatory death on the cross. This is of course, purely the grace of God.
Her divine motherhood is also purely the grace of God. It was not something she earned. It was the work of the Holy Spirit. The angel said, “Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.” For this reason, Mary in her Magnificat proclaimed, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” (Lk 1:46-49)
Of course, Mary had to cooperate with the grace of God by responding in faith and humility. When the angel assured her that her divine motherhood would be by the power of God, she said “yes” in faith. “Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.” We, too, must cooperate with the grace we received at baptism when our sins were forgiven, and we were reborn as God’s adopted sons and daughters. The grace of holiness given to Mary at her conception is also given to us at baptism. But having received the grace of adoption in Christ, like Mary, we are not exempt from cooperating with God’s grace in faith.
The only way to resist the temptations of the Evil One and to the disturbing trends in the world is to follow Mary in responding to God’s invitation to live a holy life, inspired and energised by the love of Christ. When our spiritual life is in order, our body will also be restored to health. The Immaculate Conception inspires every person to strive for a life of holiness and sonship in Christ.
Today, we are called to be poor in spirit – receptive to God’s grace. But we are also called to attend to the poor, the sick, those who have lost meaning and purpose in life, those living in sin, the marginalised and lonely. We conquer sin not just by resisting it, but to proactively – together with Mary – strive to make this world a better place by living a life of grace, especially by reaching out to our neighbours through love and charity.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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