SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
Nm. 6:22-27, Ps. 67: 2- 3, 5,6,7, Gal. 4: 4-7, Lk. 2:16-21
Jesus once asked a very important question: “Who is my mother? (Mt 12:48). He was not having any doubts concerning his parentage or a sudden identity crisis. He was also not being arrogant in the way of people who want to affirm their self-importance. Jesus asked this as introduction to his teaching about doing the will of God, thereby putting his mother’s faith up as an example for his disciples to follow.
The early church struggled with this precise question. What exactly could and should Mary be called. Of course the answer to this question was and remains dependent on the Church ‘s understanding of the identity of Jesus. The identity of the Son determines, in every way, the identity of the mother. Eventually, the orthodox position, already popular among the faithful, affirming Mary not only as the mother of Christ, but also as Theotokos, “God- bearer” became a tenet of the faith, flowing from the clarification that Jesus is truly God and truly man, in the hypostatic union.
At the start of the civil year, the Church turns it’s gaze towards Mary, whose eyes are in turn perpetually fixed on Christ. She is held up as a model of faith, a caring, interceding and guiding mother to the mystical body of Christ. Following Mary’s gaze, imitating her example of faithful obedience and quiet contemplation always leads us to Christ. This is the reason why the Fathers of the Church considered veneration of the Mother as the surest way to the Son. After the Octave of Christmas, the contemplation of the mystery of the Incarnation, it is most fitting to follow the mother in adoration of her son.
In today’s first reading the priestly blessing of Aaron is proclaimed. This blessing is continued by the Church who assures the faithful of God’s indwelling presence. God’s face was seen on earth in the child of Mary. By celebrating the festival of Mary, whose calling signifies the dawn of salvation, the Church once more gives us Christ in and through whom God blesses all creation. The full significance of Mary’s role in the salvation of the world and in the story of the Church will only be fully grasped in the hereafter and only then will we realise the value of having such a mother by virtue of being in Christ Jesus.
It is also important to realise that we have very little to no control over the events of life. What we learn from Mary is how we should respond to it all with faith and childlike abandonment.
We cross the threshold of a new year with our hand steadily in the hands of our Mother, trusting that her gaze will once more lead our eyes to see the face of Christ shining upon is, enabling us to truly be pilgrims of hope, carrying the life of God within is as she did and giving Christ to the world at every opportunity that this new year brings.