Thursday, December 31, 2020

 

MARY MOTHER OF GOD

Num. 6:22-7; Gal. 4:4-7; Lk. 2:16-21

Welcome to today's celebration of the Feast of Mary. This Feast of "Mary, Mother of God" is very appropriate to start a new year. This celebration echoes that the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Mother of God, is also our Heavenly Mother.

We base our faith in this dogma on the words of Elizabeth who was the cousin of Mary. When the Blessed Virgin Mary visited Elizabeth after the angel had appeared to her and told her that she would be the mother of Jesus, Elizabeth said, "And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?" [Lk. 1:43] Through Elizabeth who was full of the Holy Spirit, it was acclaimed that Mary had been chosen to be the Mother of God.

In the fourth century, a priest named Arius claimed that Jesus as the Son of God was created by God. This would mean that Jesus was an amazing creature, but not God, so it was a denial of his divinity. The idea took hold, and Arianism became popular in the Eastern and Western Roman empire. 

Opponents such as St. Athanasius, who was exiled multiple times for his belief, said that would be a return to polytheism, since Jesus in the Arianist view was not God, but was still worshipped alongside God the Father.

In 431 A.D. the Council of Ephesus affirmed that Mary was truly the Mother of God because "according to the flesh" she gave birth to Jesus, who was truly God from the first moment of His conception. Twenty years later, in 451 A.D. at the Council of Chalcedon, it was affirmed that the Motherhood of Mary was a truthful dogma and an official doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church. The Feast of the Mother of God affirms that Mary was the mother of Jesus who was both God and human. The Holy Scriptures teaches us through the Gospel of John that Jesus was both God and human. "The Word became flesh and lived among us." [Jn. 1:14]

Mary chose to be the mother of God, with her unconditional faith, submission and hope. When the Angel announced the news that she had been chosen to be the mother of God, her response was: “Behold, I am the hand maid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word."

She was well aware of the consequences of being found with a baby before marriage. She had witnessed the punishment given for infidelity. Still when the word of God made demands on her she did not think about the worries that "tomorrow" might bring. This is a great lesson for us. We, often, live in the worries of the future. Our life is engulfed by the regrets of the past and the unknown worries of the future. After all today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday.  As we are setting foot to the New Year, our mother stands beside us, encouraging us to be optimistic in life.

In today's Gospel Mary teaches us one of the most important virtues of all: wisdom. St Luke tells us how Mary responded to the wonderful things that God was doing in and around her: "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."

Just as Mary's womb was open to receiving God's living Word at the moment of Christ's Incarnation, so her heart was constantly open to receiving God’s ongoing words and messages as He continued to speak through the events of her life. This capacity and habit of reflecting in our heart on God's action in our lives is both a sign and a source of wisdom. And we can never become mature, courageous, and joyful followers of Christ unless we develop it.

Mary was Jesus’ mother in the flesh, and she is our mother in grace. And just as we learn from our natural mothers how to be good human beings, so we learn from Mary how to become mature Christians. She is the living school where we learn every virtue that leads to happiness and holiness. Inspired by Mary’s example let’s strive to begin this new year as a year of a more profound love for Christ; in that way, it will indeed be a happy new year.

The year 2020 has not been without its challenges and its trials and yet in so many ways we can find the hand of God at work within each of us and within His Church.  There can be no growth without some growing pains, without some struggle, without some change. Even in dark days, our God never deserts us. He is present with his people. And he has unseen purposes that he is fulfilling through all this.

And now we look forward to a new year – another gift of our loving God – and we pray that it will be a fruitful year, a life-giving year, a grace-filled year!  We pray that it will bring us closer to our God and to each other as we work together for His glory by deepening our discipleship.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, wrap us safely in her mantle and bring us closer to her Son.

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