Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God – January 1, 2023
Happy New Year everyone.
This year, we have the unusual situation of New Year’s day falling on a Sunday:
As a result, for this Sunday mass, we are celebrating the Solemnity of Mary, Holy
Mother of God instead of the usual Feast of the Holy Family. I understand that the next time that this will
happen is 2033, so it is worthy of noting as we begin this new year, and perhaps
a rare opportunity to focus on this important solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
In Psalm 119, there is a beautiful line that I’m sure you
are all familiar with: “Your Word, oh Lord, is a
lamp for my feet, and a light for my path.” “Your Word, oh Lord, is
a lamp for my feet, and a light for my path.” This phrase is meant to
emphasize the wisdom that comes from listening to and following God’s Word. God’s
Word becomes a lamp that keeps our feet from stumbling over the unseen
obstacles in our path. God’s Word becomes the light that provides guidance and
direction we need for our journey. I believe
we can all acknowledge as well that Mary, the Holy Mother of God, is also a
lamp for our feet and a light for our path. She is that lamp, that light, perhaps not so
much from what she has spoken, but from the faith and trust she exhibited during
her whole life time in pondering, listening to and obeying God’s word spoken to
her. In every aspect of her personhood, full of grace, she acts as intercessor,
leading us to Jesus her Son.
As Catholic Christians, we are very privileged to have that special connection to
Mary, for it is not a connection that is shared by many other Christian denominations,
and certainly not by our secular world.
During my younger years of growing up in the country, I had
the opportunity of attending some Sunday School classes at the local Baptist
and United Churches. During these classes I don’t remember Mary ever being
mentioned that much, except perhaps as being Jesus’ mother. At age 20, when I
began to take Catholic instructions with Fr. Pienfettie at Canadian Martyrs
Parish, it was then that I began to notice the special emphasis that the
Catholic Church gave to Mary, particularly in the praying of the rosary, and the
many prayers and special feast day offered to her. And my curiosity was aroused at that time as
to why this difference, and how did this difference come about. During this
time as well, I remember a co-worker and good friend of mine,
asking me: “Why do you Catholics give so much attention to Mary? For us, Mary is just a person like ourselves.
When we pray, we pray to Jesus or to God the Father. Very good questions,
questions that I had no answer for at the time.
In my research that followed, I began to discover some of the answers to these
questions which I would like to share with you briefly today.
During the time of the reformation in
the mid 1500, Martin Luther, in his response to errors that had crept into areas
of the church, decreed that we are only saved by the actions of Grace, and not
by works, or any kind or human action. This decree developed into a belief that
the good works we humans do, in a response to faith, must never be attributed
to the individual person, but only to God.
The Catholic position, on the other hand, has always been
to recognize and insist on the basic goodness of human nature. We are part of God’s
creation, and we are created for goodness. But we cannot remain motionless in our
response. As in any relationship, we must respond in kind. As a result, by the virtue
of Grace, we work in cooperation with God and the Holy Spirit for our own salvation
and the salvation of others. To think otherwise would be like believing that God
created us hopelessly flawed and could only be saved by His action alone. So the Catholic teachings related to Mary, and
our devotions to her were quite simply acknowledging and following this ancient
principle. As a result, we continue to recognize
and honour Mary, as a human person, who, through Grace, works in cooperation
with God’s plan for salvation. We honor
Mary for her perfect response in faith in accepting to be Mother of God. “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me in accordance to your
will.” And we see Mary as specially chosen by God, to
be the instrument of His Divine Plan.
The Church from the very beginning has always possessed a very strong connection
to Mary and her role in the salvation event.
In fact, Mary’s title of Mother of God goes back to the Council of
Ephesus in 431. It was through Mary, and through her intercession that many over
the years have found the path to Christ and become followers of Jesus. There is, it seems, an invisible mystical connection,
between Jesus and His mother that draws us more deeply into drama of our
Christian faith.
We turn to Mary in our times of hardship and need, and pray
that she may intercede for us to her Son.
Through Mary’s depth of faith and surrender to God, she becomes that
icon of where we desire to be ourselves in matters of faith. In her assumption
of both body and soul into heaven, she becomes the icon of where we desire to
go, to enter that perfect union with the Father.
It seems strange to me that when our secular society recognizes our sports, music
and movie stars by honouring them in Halls of Fame, that we should not
also honor the Saints, whose faith and example have opened windows for us to touch
the very source of life itself. And Mary, the Mother of God, the greatest of
the saints, provides the clearest window we have to her Son Jesus, and His
Kingdom. She is that lamp for our
feet and light for our path. Certainly, a human person like ourselves, but
the person who became that perfect vessel to carry God’s greatest gift to us,
her very own son Jesus. Our Gospel reading speaks of those special early moments
in Jesus’ life where Mary was present; his birth, the visit from the shepherds,
the giving of his name; all treasured moments that Mary pondered in her heart. Let
us pray at the beginning of this new year that we do the same. In
celebration of this special solemnity, I invite you to share with me that prayer
of the Queenship of Mary.
V. Pray for us oh holy mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Amen
