Mary, the Holy Mother of God

Mass Readings

• First Reading Numbers 6:22-27
• Responsorial Psalm Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
• Second Reading Galatians 4:4-7
• Gospel Luke 2:16-21

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Step Into the Story

In burial caves just outside Jerusalem, archaeologists found two tiny silver scrolls, probably from around 600 B.C., engraved with the priestly blessing from Numbers: “The Lord bless you and keep you.” Jerusalemites wore God’s name as an amulet before Babylon burned the city in 586 B.C. Paul, writing to the Galatians probably in the 50s A.D., says God sent His Son “born of a woman.” In 431 the Council of Ephesus upheld her title Theotokos, “God-bearer,” and crowds escorted the bishops home by torchlight.

1. c. 600 B.C.Silver amulets bear the blessing
2. 586 B.C.Babylon burns Jerusalem
3. 40 B.C.Rome names Herod king
4. 27 B.C.Octavian becomes Augustus
5. This week’s scene: 6 to 4 B.C.The shepherds find the Child

Go back to Bethlehem in the reign of Augustus, most likely between 6 and 4 B.C., on the night the shepherds come. Hear them before you see them: rough voices, sandals on stone, the bleat of a flock left behind on the hills. These are rough men who live out with their flocks. Watch them crowd into the low shelter, breathless, telling of angels. Smell the sheep on their cloaks and the lamp burning low.

Now look past them to the young mother. Everyone else is amazed and talking. Mary says nothing. She keeps these things and ponders them in her heart. Sit down near her in the half dark. Eight days from now this child will be circumcised and given the name the angel chose. For now, simply keep watch with His Mother.

Encounter the Lord

Kneel with the shepherds in Bethlehem. They have run from the fields to tell what the angels said, and everyone who hears is amazed. But watch Mary. She does not speak. She keeps all these things and reflects on them in her heart.

The Child she holds is truly her son, and He is truly God. That is why the Church calls her Mother of God: not because she is the source of His divinity, but because the One she bore is the eternal Son of the Father. Through Him, Paul says, we are no longer slaves but sons and daughters who can call God “Abba.” Mary teaches us how to receive that gift: quietly, attentively, with a heart that keeps and treasures what God does.

Begin the new year with Mary. Go to Mass today, since it is a holy day of obligation. Then take ten quiet minutes to look back on the past year and ask her to help you see where God was at work.

Know Your Faith

Mother of God

The One whom Mary conceived as man by the Holy Spirit was the eternal Son of the Father, the second Person of the Trinity. For this reason the Church confesses that Mary is truly Mother of God (CCC 495, 509). The Council of Ephesus proclaimed this in 431 (CCC 466).

Children of God

God sent His Son so that we might become, in the Holy Spirit, His adopted children (CCC 1). The Spirit of His Son in our hearts lets us call God “Abba, Father” (CCC 683, 2766).

The Holy Name of Jesus

The name Jesus means “God saves” (CCC 430). It is the name that contains everything, and whoever calls on it welcomes the Son of God (CCC 432, 2666). On the eighth day Jesus was circumcised, a sign of His belonging to the people of the covenant (CCC 527).

A Holy Day of Obligation

Because she gives us Jesus, Mary is Mother of God and our mother, and we can entrust all our cares to her (CCC 2677). The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, is a holy day of obligation (CCC 2177, 2180).