Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
Well, here we stand, at the beginning of a New Year, the Year of our Lord 2012. On New Year’s Eve people around the world stayed up late to be awake at the moment we changed from 2011 to 2012, made New Year’s resolutions, perhaps kissed loved ones, and hoped that this new year will have fewer sorrows and more joys. In essence, they were asking God to pour out His blessings upon them and their loved ones.
The theme of blessing is unmistakable in today’s readings. Our first reading begins with the Lord telling Moses to tell Aaron, the newly ordained priests of the covenant of Sinai, how to bless the Lord’s people: “‘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!’” And God promises that when the priests do this, the Lord will truly bless them. And in our responsorial psalm we hear the invocation of God’s blessing. Even our second reading, though it does not contain the word “blessing,” talks about the true blessing of how “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” St. Paul talks to us about our blessing of being made sons and daughters in the Son of God.
But what is a blessing? We use the word all the time, but do we understand it? The word itself comes from two Latin words, bene and dicere, meaning to speak well. When we bless people, we certainly speak well of them. Still, when we talk about God’s blessing, we are talking about God whose Word is effective. A blessing is not just a wish for good things, but when it comes from the Lord, it is an effective way of communicating God Himself through certain words. Of course, blessings are not magic. We must be open to the blessing to be able to receive the goodness that it is meant to convey. But as long as we are open to the blessing, God’s grace is conferred upon us for our benefit.
I would suggest that for the New Year, as we seek God’s blessing, God’s goodness, that we take this celebration as our starting point. Today we celebrate Mary, the Holy Mother of God. We celebrate the human woman, the highest honor of our human family, who said yes to God in all things, and so merited to be the Mother of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. And because Jesus is fully God, we rightfully call her the Mother of God, not just the mother of Jesus, as some heretics would do in the fourth century.
Since Jesus Christ is the greatest blessing, as St. Paul reminds us in our second reading, because by His death and resurrection He has made us heirs to eternal life, and as the true High Priest has truly communicated God’s fullest blessings to us in having the courage to cry out, “Abba, Father!”, we should look to Mary to receive the fullness of these blessings, because it is only through Mary’s yes to God that we were able to receive the greatest blessing: Jesus our Savior.
Now, do not confuse me. I am not elevating Mary over Jesus, as if there is a quaternity rather than a Trinity. We only believe in One God in Three Persons, and Mary is not a part of that Blessed Trinity. But, we receive the grace of Divine Love in its fullest expression through Mary, and so it is through her that we receive Christ, even in our daily lives. This is what that pious phrase, “To Jesus, through Mary,” means. It means that, while we have access to the Father in Christ, we have access to Christ through Mary, His Mother, who is always leading us back to Jesus, and reminding us as she did at the Wedding at Cana, “Do Whatever He Tells You,” the very words we have in our Cana Chapel (here) at St. Thomas. While our Gospel today spoke of Mary keeping all the mysteries that happened at Jesus’ birth, and reflecting on them in her heart, she does not keep our prayers to herself, but presents them to her Lord and her Son in faithful trust. And what Son can refuse the prayers of so loving a mother? Surely the author of the commandment “Honor your father and mother” would not refuse the request of His Mother, especially since her will is now united in heaven with the will of God.
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| Our Lady of Perpetual Help |
Catholics, for centuries, have turned toward the Mother of God, and since that day that Jesus gave Mary to us as our mother as He told His beloved apostle John, “‘Behold your mother,’” we have not ceased to turn to Blessed Mary, ever-Virgin to plead our cause and to present our prayers to her Son. We need only think of the rosary, the Angelus, the first Saturdays, the brown scapular, and devotions to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, La Virgen de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Sorrows, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and so many others. Sadly, many of these faded after Vatican II. But as Pope Bl. John Paul II reminded us so frequently, that was not the Council’s intent. With the words of his papal motto: Totus tuus—Totally yours, our late pontiff reminded us of the love we should have for Mary.
In this New Year, let us be bold in asking God for His blessings. Let us approach Him as we would a loving Father. And how many times, when wanting something from our earthly fathers, have we, wisely, asked our earthly mothers to intercede for us so that we may obtain the good things we need and want? May we make our requests for blessings through the intercession of our Blessed Mother each day, by uniting our lives to Christ through her. May her name be on our lips as we rise each morning, and in thanksgiving for her assistance as we fall asleep each night. For me it is as simple as the pious prayer, Mater mea, fiducia mea: my Mother, my confidence at the beginning of the day, and a hymn to Mary, usually the Salve Regina, as I go to bed. Or we can make our own the Morning Offering, as I do when I put on my scapular: O my God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer thee the Precious Blood of Jesus from all the altars throughout the world. O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgence and merit I can, and offer them, together with myself, to Mary Immaculate, that she may best apply them in the interests of thy Most Sacred Heart. O Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Holy Mary, mother of God, mother of the Church, and our mother: pray for us!
