Solemnity of the BVM, the Mother of God

Nm 6:22-27
Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
Gal 4:4-7
Lk 2:16-21

The Church calls the faithful together to celebrate something very special.   Interestingly enough, the celebration today does not commemorate the beginning of the year, but rather we are celebrating the eighth day of Christmas or the Octave – yes, there are actually twelve days of Christmas and this is the eighth one and so if you have already packed up your tree, you didn’t get your money’s worth!  You still have until January 6th.  For all you procrastinators, you can leave your Christmas decorations up according to the older tradition of celebrating Christmas and that’s all the way until February 2nd.  We are celebrating the eighth day of Christmas, which happens to be New Year’s Day.  If Jesus was born on the 26th, we’d celebrate this feast tomorrow.   But as it works out, and fortunately as we will see later, the eighth day falls on New Year’s.  Why is the eighth day important?

According to Jewish custom and as we hear in the Gospel: When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus… This is the day they perform the rite of circumcision for a newborn son.   And all painful imagery aside, the day that one is circumcised is also the day one receives their name and enters into covenant with God and his chosen people.  You could say this ritual is equivalent to our baptism.  From salvation’s standpoint, the circumcision solidifies the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus – the Son of God incarnated – the Messiah coming from the Jewish people to bring salvation to the world.  As we hear in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians: When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law.  Jesus was announced at the annunciation, born of a woman on Christmas, and now born under the law in the circumcision.  In doing all of this, Jesus enters fully into His humanity to redeem humanity from slavery, not in the physical sense, but rather slavery to sin.  And to show that He does this out of love for His creation, through Jesus’ humanity we also become sons and daughters of God – heirs to the Father – the almighty God.

So the question that may be going through your mind is, “Well that’s all well and good Father Reuben but what does this all have to do with Mary – isn’t this her feast day?”  And my answer is, “Glad you asked! Let me tell you!”  We have many feasts honoring Mary – Annunciation, the Immaculate Conception, and the Assumption to name a few.  Today’s Feast pays special honor and tribute to the title “Mother of God” – theotokos, in the Greek.  This title is of special importance because it is one of the oldest titles of Mary and they had an entire ecumenical council dedicated to discussing this title.  But lest we be accused of idolatry to Mary, let us take examine the title more closely.  As with all titles of Mary and if I may add, in her very person, Mary points to Christ.  The only reason she is exalted it is because she is connected to and points towards Christ.
The title “Mary, Mother of God” in three words describes and captures the very essence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.  During that ecumenical council that I had mentioned earlier, an archbishop named Nestorius wanted to change the title from theotokos to christotokos or Mother of God to Mother of Christ.  He did not and could not believe that it was possible for Mary to bear God in her womb; and so instead believed that she bore a human person and then God came down and took over the person of Jesus, leaving only Jesus with a divine nature.  But we, the Church believe that when Jesus was conceived, He was both God and man.  The title “Mother of God” protects that idea – the sheer mind-bending impossible idea that Mary could bear God in her womb was the very reason why the Church adopted the title to acknowledge this very fact that she “mothered” God.  This is again, not to exalt her and her ability to bear God in her womb. The exaltation is in the fact that Jesus, who is God, took on flesh to be born for us and save us.  Salvation comes from the person – both God and human – of Jesus Christ.  Mary is the instrument by which this salvific event is able to take place and hence she is called Mother of God.

So now we know the importance of celebrating the title, Mother of God, the next question to answer is why do we celebrate this feast day on today?  Short answer:  Because Pope Paul VI said so.  I believe perhaps a better answer is that it would make sense for us to celebrate this feast day of Mary, Mother of God on the day that Jesus completes His entrance into humanity.  As Jesus reaches the fullness of His humanity marked by His initiation with circumcision, Mary realizes the fullness of her Motherhood as well.  We are reminded again, When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.… 

If you remember at the beginning, I said that it was fortunate that this feast occurred at the beginning of the solar calendar, the first of the year.  As a lot of you probably celebrated last night remembering the events of the past year and making resolutions for the new year, to celebrate this feast is fitting and fortunate because the news and the realization of our salvation is still very present.  The first reading comes from the Book of Numbers and is known as the Aaronic blessing – used to significant feasts throughout the year.  The very fact that this blessing contains the Holy Name of God (in our Bible it is written in all capitals LORD) invokes the power of God’s Holy name to bring about blessing and goodness.  When you think about it, the power of a name can invoke the very essence and being into the presence of the speaker.  On the opposite end, if you have read the Harry Potter books, you know what I am talking about “you know who”.  The same with God – that His Holy Name, the name of Jesus – given to Him on this the eighth day from His birth into the world brings about blessings and goodness by its very invocation.

Brothers and sisters: today, we celebrate the Octave Day of Christmas – the day of Jesus’ initiation into humanity, the divine motherhood of Mary in calling her the Mother of God, and the giving of His Holy Name to be known throughout all time as the One who comes to bring us His salvation, His blessing, and His peace.  Therefore let us celebrate the beginning of the New Year in His good graces.