“And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)
Reflections on the readings for The Octave Day of Christmas / Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God (January 1, 2022): NM 6:22-27; PS 67:2-3,5,6,8; GAL 4:4-7; LK 2:16-21
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
Today we venerate the Blessed Virgin who is mother of Jesus, mother of God and of us -- His children.
Today the world celebrates the first day of the New Year. And the Church embraces it as the Octave of Christmas and a beautiful opportunity to venerate Mary, the Mother of God. It was through her fidelity to God and free consent to His will that she bore -- through the power of the Holy Spirit -- Jesus Christ, fully divine and fully human. It was because of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s total cooperation with God’s grace that His design to save us from sin was accomplished. However, the generosity of the Almighty did not stop there. As St. Paul tells us in today’s Second Reading: “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, so that we might receive adoption. … So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir, through God” (Galatians 4-5,7).
Like us, Mary is human. And, like us, she is a child of God. Yet she is so much more because her Son is also the Son of our Eternal Father. And in becoming His mother she also truly became the Mother of God. And in His love and mercy, God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- gave her to us as our own mother. This is a wonderful day to contemplate the boundless generosity of the Blessed Trinity in providing not only for the desperate needs of our souls, but also for their yearnings. God embraces us as His own children and heirs of heaven. And He then offers us His cherished daughter who became mother of Jesus Christ the Son of God as our mother, too. Mary, the humble Jewish virgin of Nazareth, bore the Holy Infant and brought Him up to fulfill the Divine and everlasting plan of salvation. And she will walk with us now, ready to intercede with Him for our welfare. She will always help us through life’s journey, and, finally, to our last, best, and eternal home in heaven.
