by Fr. Tommy Lane
Happy New Year! We honor Our Lady today under the title “Mother of God.” We call Mary “Mother of God” not Mother of Jesus because Jesus was God and man, and so Mother of God says we believe Jesus was not only human, or only appeared to be divine, but that Jesus truly was God and man, “true God and true man,” as we say in the Creed. There were heresies in the past when some did not believe in the full divinity of Jesus, and calling Mary Mother of God shows that we believe in the full divinity of Jesus. John’s Gospel begins
In the beginning was
the Word,
and the Word was with
God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the
beginning with God.
All things came to be
through him,
and without him
nothing came to be. (John 1:1-3)
Jesus existed from the beginning of time, before he became flesh in the womb of Mary. Mary carried Jesus, true God and true man, in her womb for nine months. As Paul says in our second reading today, God sent his Son born of a woman. (Gal 4:4) So, it is fitting to call her Mother of God. Even at the time of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther and all the others were happy to give the title Mother of God to Our Lady.
God prepared Our Lady to be Mother of God by preserving her from original sin and all sin. This was a special grace given to Our Lady. The Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was a chest made of wood to carry the two stone tablets containing the commandments God gave Moses (Ex 25:16). Those who were called on to move the Ark of the Covenant had to consecrate themselves and be holy because the ark was considered so holy since it carried God’s word (1 Chron 15:14). In like manner, Mary, could not be touched by sin. God and sin are opposites, and God prepared the sinless Virgin Mary to be a fitting mother to Jesus his Son. It is also fitting that Mary who was free from sin from the first moment of her existence was assumed body and soul to the glory of heaven at the end of her earthly life. Mary is the highest of the saints. As we honor Our Lady today as Mother of God, we remember the love of Our Lady for each of us. Think of how much Our Lady loved St. Bernadette of Lourdes or the children of Fatima. Our Lady loves you just as much because she does not have favorites. We ask her to intercede before God for us today.
Our Gospel today concludes by telling us that eight days after Jesus was born, that is today, he was given the name Jesus. (Luke 2:21). The angel Gabriel said to Our Lady during the Annunciation, “you shall name him Jesus” and said to Joseph, “you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21) In English it is difficult to understand what the angel means by saying, “you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins” but in Hebrew the words “Jesus” and “save” are very close so Jesus’ name explains his mission: to save us from our sins. Jesus is “Savior.” It is a divine name, not a name to be used disrespectfully in a blasphemous way. It is good to recall the sacredness of the name Jesus and the sacredness of the titles given him, including the title Christ.
Our first reading today gives us the words of the blessings priests gave in the temple in Jerusalem when they blessed people at the conclusion of liturgies:
The Lord bless you and
keep you
The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to
you
The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace (Num
6:24-26)
As we begin this New Year, we ask God’s blessing on the New Year, and the words of blessing in the first reading echo our prayers to God today to bless our New Year. The reading concluded by God saying this is the way the priests are to invoke his name on the Israelites and he will bless them (Num 6:27). In other words, when the priests bless the people, it is God who gives the blessing. When you are blessed by a Catholic priest, you are blessed by Jesus because Catholic priests share in the priesthood of Jesus. Every Mass concludes with the blessing of a priest and if anyone leaves Mass early, apart from reminding us of Judas who left the Last Supper early, that person misses the blessing of the priest which is the blessing of Jesus.
As we begin this New Year, we venerate Mary the Mother of God who was specially prepared by God to be the perfect sinless mother for Jesus while he grew in her womb for the nine months before he was born. We call Mary “Mother of God” because Jesus was true God and true man and we ask her to intercede before God for us because she loves us as much as she loved Bernadette of Lourdes or the children of Fatima, and we ask God to bless our year ahead:
The Lord bless you and
keep you
The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to
you
The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace (Num
6:24-26)
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2023
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for January 1: Mary the Mother of God
Mary, Mother of God 2017
Mary, Mother of God, and our Mother 2018
Related Homilies: Mother of God