Merry Christmas! This greeting is just as appropriate today as it was 7 days ago! January 1st is the octave day, the 8th day of Christmas. We gather tonight on New Year’s Eve, and we celebrate the Solemnity of Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. It is still Christmas, and we pause again to marvel at our Heavenly Father’s great love and mercy in sending us His only begotten Son through Mary.
This is how God works! He doesn’t force His way into our lives; He doesn’t barge into our problems, our joys, our sorrows. He knocks, He offers, He invites. 9 months before Christmas, we celebrate the Annunciation of the Lord, when the Angel Gabriel brought God startling offer to Mary. We remember Christ’s Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed, “Father, may this cup pass from me, but not my will, but yours be done.”
Because of God’s great deference and respect for our freedom, He came to redeem us not at the head of conquering armies, not as a king filled with worldly power. Rather, He came as a baby, defenseless, in need of protection and nurture. That is what we believe, profess… has it lost it’s mystery to us? God, Creator of all things, was nursed and wiped and burped by His Mother Mary, and by his Foster Father, Joseph.
All this in the title of our feast today: Mary, Mother of God. It may seem unremarkable, we are accustomed to the idea of Mary being Jesus’ mother… but this title, in Greek Theotokos, literally, God-bearer, was the cause of great strife in the early centuries of the Church. Except for the mystery of the Incarnation, the mystery of Christmas, this title would be a contradiction, an oxymoron, a phrase without meaning. But, in Jesus Christ, the Word Made Flesh, fully human and fully divine, it is entirely true to say that God who has no beginning or end, God who created all things, had a Mother.
This is not just theological precision… Listen to our short but intense second reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. As proof that you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir, through God.”
By our baptism, we have become the adopted sons and daughters of God! We are not just God’s creatures, His slaves, His possession… we are now His sons and daughters, heirs to His Kingdom, part of His family, the Church. We have been born again into a great dignity, a great beauty, a great joy. And, if God is our Father, if Jesus is our brother, then Mary is our Mother. If we will not have Mary as our Mother, then we have cut ourselves off from the Trinity, because God Himself chose to bring about our redemption through Mary.
How does God break into our lives? The words of blessing from our first reading speak thusly, “The LORD let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you!” How did Mary conceive Jesus? She was overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord’s Love shining upon her. How do we know we are God’s children? According to Paul, God sends the Spirit of His Son into our hearts… we too are to be overshadowed by the Spirit, so that the Life of Christ might be conceived in our hearts and brought to birth in our lives.
If you happen to see any of the Narnia movies, or far better, if you happen to read one of the books, notice how Aslan interacts with the characters, good and bad. The movies don’t entirely miss it, but in the books especially, C.S. Lewis depicts beautifully the way God waits on our freedom. He’s a good storyteller, but also a good theologian!
This is our dignity, our joy, our hope! We are worthwhile not because of what we have, what we earn, what we buy. We are, each one of us, immensely precious and valuable, but it is not first of all because of our own efforts, but because God first loved us. Mary is worthy of our praise, She is a powerful intercessor on our behalf because of what God did for her! She said it herself in response to Elizabeth’s praise, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.”
So, brothers and sisters in Christ, we enter this New Year of the Lord, 2011. God has sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, who is rightly called the Mother of God. May we enter this new year with thanksgiving in our hearts, with praise and adoration for God who had done great things for us, and may we keep all these things, reflecting on them in our hearts just as Mary did. The Lord calls us no less than Mary. May we respond with similar generosity. May we too surrender all into the Father’s hands.
O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us who have recourse to thee.
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