Homily – Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God ’11 Father Joseph
A few months back, I had a discussions with a young man about Jesus. He was seriously searching and needed to be respected for where he was in his journey in faith. He told me that although he called himself a Christian, he did not believe that Christ was God. He said that he believed that Jesus was a great man… I asked him how being a follower of Christ for him would be any different from being a follower of Marx, or Ghandi, or Martin Luther King or any other figure from history. He left, searching for an answer to this question because, I truly believe, he knew that he recognized Jesus as far more than just a historic figure.
This question of who Jesus is(in our Church’s history), as well as the importance of understanding His divinity gave rise to the great theological statement that He is the Son of God as well as the Son of Mary. His nature, what He is, is both God and man; His person, who He is, is the Eternal Word of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He is only one Person, one God in the Unity of the Trinity. Therefore, the Council of Ephesus proclaomed in 449, Mary, although herself a human being, is also the Mother of God. Through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, Mary conceived within herself the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. And so we pray, “Holy Mary, Mother of God,” and we celebrate this today, the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
During this Christmastide, we sing beautiful carols, hymns and even lullabys that place us, at least emotionally back in Bethlehem. Babies are to be cherished and loved and cared for and all those good things that bring out the parental instinct in us. So, we spend time contemplating Jesus as a baby. At the same time, though, the Church reminds us who this Jesus is. Jesus is the Incarnate Word of God. He is Lord and Christ. He is the Savior who is fully God and fully human. This is all a mystery, how Jesus could be fully God and fully human; but it is faith that we profess, not a system of scientifically proven facts. We are reminded today that the One whose birth we romanticize with Silent Night is the One who was present at the creation of the universe.
Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart, our Gosp tells us. She obviously knew, from the angels’ greeting, that her Son was no ordinary child. She continually reflected on the events of Jesus' birth. Normally, a baby boy was received into his home with a festival of musical instruments played by the people of the neighborhood. Jesus was rec’d with the songs of an Angelic choir and gentle chorus of the animals close by. Normally a boy was given the name of a relative. Our Savior was given the name, Yeshua or Yahweh Saves. When many years later, after Pentecost, the apostles proclaimed, This Jesus whom you have put to death is in fact Lord, Messiah and Savior, Mary surely remembered that the shepherds appeared that holy night carrying the message of the angels, To, you, this day is born in the City of David a Savior who is Christ and Lord.
Mary was a woman of faith, complete faith. She had faith that somehow God would care for her in her pregnancy, in childbirth, throughout her life, and… at the foot of the cross. She had faith that His plan was working thru this wonderful child of the common life.
On this, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, we pray for faith, real faith, not faith that science and math might try to prove, but faith that God is working His plans in and through us in so many beautiful, mysterious ways. This gift of faith leads us to join with Mary as we believe that the Holy Child of Bethlehem is the Son of God.
As we approach this altar to receive Jesus today…Jesus wrapped in the humble, mysterious signs of bread and wine…we, like Mary, keep all these things, reflecting on them in our hearts…and we pray that our Savior, Jesus the Christ, will continue to nourish us with His divine life, His grace, His healing, His forgiveness, His peace, His joy!
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death…Amen!
