the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

 

 From this blog we read:"In being immaculately conceived in the womb of her Mother, Ann, Mary more or less received an "advance payment" on the grace of Christ and was preserved from the original sin of dis-integrity, or the "disintegration" of her capacity to fully assent to God's call for her life. This is alluded to in today's Gospel from Luke, when, after receiving the Angel's invitation to conceive Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responds with the simple, straightforward response of, "I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word."

Mary's Immaculate Conception, as an "advance installment" of the grace of Christ, prefigures precisely the grace and call that is extended to us. By virtue of an ongoing commitment to saying "yes" to new life in Christ, we are undergoing a radical "Immaculate Re-Conception" of our lives in order to ultimately say, along with Mary, "we are servants of the Lord, may it be done unto us according to your word." Mary's Immaculate Conception is the beginning of the promise of our "Immaculate Re-Conception" in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit!"

For the Feast of the Immaculate Conception we celebrated with the following meal:

·      White meal – chicken schnitzel, garlic potatoes, cauliflower

 

     WHITE CHOCOLATE CAKE

INGREDIENTS

250 g white cooking chocolate, chopped

250 g butter, chopped

200 ml hot water

1½ cups caster sugar

1¾ cups plain flour

1 cup self-raising flour

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Frosting

100 g white cooking chocolate, chopped

¼ cup cream

250 g softened cream cheese

(can be softened in the microwave for a few seconds)

SERVES 10–12

TO MAKE

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 22-cm round cake tin and line the base. Combine chocolate, butter, water and sugar in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir continuously, until sugar has dissolved and chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool. Sift flours into a large bowl, add chocolate mixture, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Place mixture into prepared tin. Bake for 1 to 1¼ hours or until cake is cooked (it should be golden on top). Leave in the tin to cool for about 20 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack. To make frosting, stir chocolate and cream over low heat until chocolate is melted and smooth. Allow to cool a little. Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy, then add the cooled chocolate mixture and beat until soft and smooth. Set aside to cool completely, then spread evenly over the top of the cake.