MARY, THE MOTHER OF GOD

SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD    

Num 6:22-27; Ps 67:2-3,5,6,8; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21

Son of God is born of a Woman

As we come to the Octave of our celebration of Christmas and the first day of the new year 2025, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. The celebration is fittingly put on the Octave of Christmas celebration, for it is the greatest title given to a human person. The Blessed Virgin Mary is truly the Mother of God because we believe in the Incarnation of the Eternal Word. The Church's understanding of the mystery of the Incarnation makes her take a second look at the Woman in whose arms lies the Child Jesus Christ. The first group of people who heard of this mysterious event were poor shepherds. An angel came to them to inform them of the unique event of God appearing in human flesh that a Saviour is born for us, for every human person. The choir of angels appeared to sing praise to God and rejoiced with them and with every man of goodwill. The Gospel narrates the confirmation of the angel’s message by the shepherds. “The shepherds hurried away to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child, they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say.” Their astonishment would be greater if they knew what Mary knew and what we now celebrate: the child is God conceived by the Woman, Mary.

Saint Paul writes to the Galatians to throw light on this mystery that is beyond the human mind. He explains that God promised the mystery from the beginning and prepared humanity for the reception of the salvation contained in the mystery. “When the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons.” The mystery was the divine intention for creating man, as contained in the announced purpose of our creation: “Let us make man in our own image and likeness.” God promised the mystery when the work of man’s creation was halted by the sin of Adam and Eve, when God promised to put enmity between the Woman and the serpent, between her offspring and its offspring. God is no longer promising human salvation; he has given it in the Incarnation of the Word. We have gazed on the Infant Jesus Christ and contemplated him for these seven days; the Church now turns her gaze on the Woman, Mary. The question on our lips is: “How is it possible for her to conceive the Son of God and bring him forth as her Son?” The Church hesitated a long time to call her Mother of God, for it is difficult for the human mind to comprehend such a title. That is why it is a mystery that God knew and accomplished by himself.

God accomplished what he promised us in the Garden of Eden, to put enmity between the Woman and the serpent, between her offspring and the seed of evil. Thus, by separating the Woman from every influence of the devil, God enabled her to conceive the Word of God and bring him forth in human nature. The Blessed Virgin Mary could do this through her complete reception of the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. This understanding gives us a wider scope of the mystery; the human person is created to conceive God, made a receptacle of the Eternal Word through the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Spirit is given to us so we may conceive the Word and bring him into our person. After the fall, the conception involves a gradual removal of every seed of darkness or evil in us and progression in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. “The proof that you are sons is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, ‘Abba, Father’, and it is this that makes you a son, you are not a slave anymore; and if God has made you son, then he has made you heir.” By faithfully receiving the word of God as Mary did, we give birth to Jesus Christ in us through the Holy Spirit. In this sense, we understand the words of Jesus when he says that whoever does the will of my Father is my mother, sister, and brother.

The first reading reveals this mystery as the blessing God intends for his people. He made us for this purpose: to be like God. It was the natural way of enthroning the Godhead in man. The fall made the Woman and her Offspring necessary for our salvation. The ultimate blessing God intends for us is to reveal the fullness of his face or divine countenance to us. “Say this to Aaron and his sons: ‘This is how you are to bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: ‘May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.’’” The uncovering of God’s face for us means our possession of his Eternal Word. Our full reception of the Word is the full illumination of our human nature; that is the beatific vision we long and pray for. We long to see him and possess him eternally. We will also be the Mothers of God like Mary, our Mother, for she is also the type of the Church in this regard.

Let us pray: O God, who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary bestowed on the human race the grace of eternal salvation, grant, we pray, that we may experience the intercession of her, through whom we were found worthy to receive the author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.