MARY, MOTHER OF GOD – New Year’s Day 2023
Birthing Jesus Into the World
(Numbers 6:22-27; Psalm 67; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21)
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This day, dedicated to Mary, Mother of God, is on a par with her other great feasts. Drawing on scriptural and patristic sources, it celebrates Mary’s role in the incarnation and in redemption. In this role, her special relationship with her son is emphasized and she is acknowledged as a model of the Church.
Since a new year holds such promise for new beginnings, it is appropriate that the feast have something to do with giving birth to new life. But since many of our non-Catholic cousins question this title of “Mother of God” that we Catholics give to Mary an explanation is in order. They ask, “How could Mary be the Mother of God, how could Mary give life to God, if God has no beginning and no end?”
The answer lies in the meaning of motherhood. According to Fr. Lucien Larré, psychologist, founder of Bosco Homes, well-known speaker and lecturer, no human mother actually gives life to her child. If she did, she could prevent her child from dying of illness. No, it is God alone who gives life. Parents give “flesh and blood” to that life; they make it possible for that new life to be human life, flesh and blood. So, Mary in giving birth to Jesus, did not really give life to him. She gave “flesh and blood” to Jesus, and made it possible for him to be a human like us. It is in that sense that Mary is Mother of God.
Let us explore the richness of the readings provided for today’s celebration. A first striking statement is found in the second reading: When the fullness of time had come. This suggests a radical newness, a new creation. It suggests that all of creation, all of history was directed towards this one great moment, the Incarnation, this intervention in our human history, when God would give Jesus to us in the flesh through Mary and the power of the Spirit. Jesus in turn would redeem or save us and, as our brother, make it possible for we human beings to be sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus!
The other readings spell out how we are to live in this new creation, this redeemed world. In the first reading from Numbers, Moses and Aaron were instructed by God on how to bless the children of Israel. We learn that a blessing bestows grace and peace and protection. Above all, a blessing calls down God’s name on God’s people. We are to be a people who bless one another.
Secondly, we are to be a people of humble faith and prayer. Mary as the mother of Jesus did not understand all the sudden and surprising events that were happening to her because of her fiat, her yes to God to be the mother of Jesus. She pondered these words in her heart however. She prayed, she believed, she trusted in God’s mysterious action in her life, and so must we. We are to be a people of the Word, learning to pray with scripture and to ponder the words of scripture in our hearts like Mary, if we want to be true sons and daughters of God.
It is praise and worship that lifts us out of our too narrow focus on our own needs and concerns, and opens our eyes to the vision that God has for the world. How appropriate the faithful gather today, to praise and worship our God. How appropriate that favourite Christmas carol that we sing at this time of the year, Oh come all ye faithful, come let us adore him.
Also, like the shepherds, our most appropriate response to this quiet yet earth-shaking Good News of the birth of God’s Son into our world through Mary must be praise, worship and a willingness to spread this Good News. We must follow the example of the Shepherds and not keep this Good News to ourselves, but go out to share it with everyone we meet. The shepherds made known what had been told them about this child, and returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. They, the poorest of the poor, were the first evangelizers. We should not be afraid to follow their example and share with others the Good News that Jesus, the Son of God, is now Son of Mary and our brother.
Finally, like Mary, we are also to “birth Jesus into the world.” We cannot give the life of faith to others, but like Mary, we are called to give him flesh and blood in our lives, by our faith, our hope and especially our genuine love and caring for others. In the words attributed to St. Teresa of Ávila, “Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which He looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good; yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body. Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours; yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
Mary, mother of God, gave to a poor, confused and lost world the most special of gifts, her Son Jesus. The Eucharist is also a special gift that Jesus, Son of Mary, gave to us – his own flesh and blood. It is a meal that demands a lot of humble faith. We believe that simple gifts of bread and wine are transformed by the Holy Spirit and the prayer of the presider and the community, into the Body and Blood of Jesus. And if we receive them with humble faith and repentance, we are transformed into the Body of Christ, sent out into the world to be leaven and light to all.
May we who celebrate this Eucharist together be empowered to live lives of humble faith, prayer, worship and praise. May we also be open to share that gift with all we meet. And in the end, to experience the kingdom of God, pray for that humble faith that Mary had and models for us.
