First Reading • Numbers 6:22-27
Psalm • Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
Second Reading • Galatians 4:4-7
Gospel • Luke 2:16-21
Most women feel grateful for the gift of becoming a mother. Their children are often what they are proudest of – more than careers or accomplishments. Motherhood is truly a blessing.
This is certainly true of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We honor her with many titles, but the one that must have meant the most to her is Mother of God. Nothing brought her greater joy than being known as the mother of Jesus.
That is why every mother instinctively defends her child. And that is why Mary remained with Jesus through both his joys and his sufferings.
Standing beside him in moments of wonder and remaining faithful even at the foot of the Cross.
That is why we gather today, just a week after Christmas, to honor Mary – the woman who gave birth to and raised Jesus, the Son of God.
We are so used to calling Mary the “Mother of God” that we may not stop to think about what it really means. For those who are not Catholic, the title can sound confusing or even shocking.
Some imagine it means that Mary is somehow greater than God, or that God depended on Mary in order to exist.
That is not what the Church teaches at all. Mary is a human being, created by God just like the rest of us.
When we call her the “Mother of God,” we are actually saying more about Jesus than about Mary.
Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He has existed from all eternity and is the Creator of all things.
And this eternal Son of God chose to take on human flesh. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He was conceived in Mary’s womb and born into the world as a true human being.
The child Mary gave birth to is fully God and fully human. And since Jesus is God, and Mary is His mother, it is right to call her the Mother of God.
This title also tells us something important about ourselves. Through our baptism, we became members of the Church and were adopted as sons and daughters of God.
Saint Paul reminds us of this in today’s second reading from Galatians: “God sent his Son, born of a woman… so that we might receive adoption to sonship.”
If Jesus’ death and resurrection have made us children of God, then it follows that Mary is our mother as well.
God’s plan for Mary did not end on the night she gave birth to Jesus. In His generosity, God chose her to be the Mother of the whole Church – the Mother of all believers.
We see this clearly at the foot of the cross. As Jesus was dying, He turned to His beloved disciple and said, “Behold your mother.”
From the very beginning, Christians understood that Jesus was not simply making arrangements for Mary’s care. He was giving His mother to all of us.
From heaven, Mary never stops praying for her children.
Just as we turn to our own mothers when we are in need, we can turn confidently to Mary. She listens. She cares. And she brings our prayers directly to her Son.
If Mary takes such joy in being the Mother of God, imagine how much it means to her when we call her our mother too. Like any loving mother, she is always ready to help.
So today we profess our faith: Jesus is the eternal Son of the Father, and Mary is His mother. And because the Holy Spirit has made us children of God, Mary is our mother as well.
As we begin a new year, many of us think about goals and resolutions.
How fitting it is that the Church places this first day of the year under the care of Mary, the Mother of God.
With her example before us, our most important resolution should be to seek God’s will and to put it into practice.
As individuals and as a parish family, let us entrust this new year to Mary.
Whatever we hope for, whatever we struggle with, whatever we long to change, we can trust her to hold our prayers in her heart and present them to Jesus.
If our resolutions are not rooted in God’s will, they will not last.
But if we seek God’s will – and allow Mary to pray with us and for us – then all things are possible. And so, on the threshold of a new year, we renew our trust in the one who first said “yes” to God.
We place our lives in the hands of Mary, the Mother of God, knowing that she always leads us to her Son.
May her faith strengthen our faith,
her courage inspire our courage,
and her love draw us ever closer to the heart of Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and throughout the new year. peace and joy follow..
