January 1^st 2017. Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

GOSPEL: Luke 2:16-21

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Luke 2:16-21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this, they made known the message 
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . This Sunday we celebrate the feast of Mary, Mother of God. The title “Mother of God” is not only a description of Mary: it expresses the essential mystery of the incarnation of Jesus. He was not simply God; nor was he only a super-talented human. Jesus was true God and true man, and this fact is of immense significance for our life of faith. Like Mary, each one of us is called to be a generator of divine life. How do we do that? First of all, let us consider the obstacles we face! Our modern world has become a very infertile place. This is manifested not only in the unprecedented unwillingness to nurture and defend life. Our entire culture emphasizes independence and autonomy. The fulfilment of our desires, the satisfaction of our own ambitions and the pursuit of sensuality are all considered legitimate behaviour for a mature adult. If I live my existence from one moment of self-gratification to the next, then how can I be fecund in any meaningful sense? God calls me to be a source of life, not the end goal of life! We are so preoccupied with our own physical endowments, but consider for a moment that Mary remained a virgin and yet became a source of life! She is our example and model. It was not her personal capacities that made her the generator of divine life but her radical openness to the action of God. The divine life that she generates is then laid in a manger and becomes food for the world. Jesus does not ask for anything but offers himself in a feeding trough as bread that is broken for us. Each one of us can follow the example of Mary if we cease looking for what we want or think we need. We can escape from our infantile state and become mature Christians if we bow low like Mary and say “Yes!” to God. Then the Lord can work through us and achieve wonderful things.

Mary’s title “Mother of God” is a title that helps us to maintain a correct understanding of who Jesus really was. He was not simply God, nor was he only a super-talented man. The mysterious fact that he was both human and divine achieves our salvation and enables us to share his divine life.

The liturgical feast that is always celebrated on the first day of the year is that of the maternity of Mary. In Greek the term for “Mother of God” is Theotokos. This title was approved and transmitted by the early fathers of the Church who wished to protect the integrity of our faith. For them the title expressed a profound truth that had to be conserved. Why was it so important to retain that Mary is the mother of the only-begotten Son of God? Surely it is contradictory to say that a creature generated God? But here we encounter that novelty that continues to surprise us. If Jesus was simply God, then his life would not have the same relevance for us. His self-giving would have been something done by God and would remain something impossible for any of us to accomplish. On the other hand, if Jesus was only a man, then his existence would simply have been that of a super-endowed human being and would have finished there. The title of Theotokos protects the truth that Jesus was true God and true man. Mary is a woman and - from her human flesh - the Son of God is mysteriously generated. The mystery of the Incarnation cannot be grasped by logical or mathematical descriptions.

The divine motherhood of Mary is not just a matter for philosophical debate. It is something that is at the heart of our faith. Along with Mary, each one of us is called to be mothers, sisters and brothers of Christ. But how do we do that?

The fact that Mary is truly the mother of Jesus, and the fact that Jesus is truly divine, might seem to be a problem of a purely philosophical sort. Instead, it is an urgent problem of faith that we confront this question in the correct manner. On the very first day of the year we are presented with this capacity of Mary to generate God. And it is a capacity that is extended to each one of us! In Luke’s Gospel there is a passage in which Jesus is told, “Your mother and brothers are waiting for you outside” (“brothers” was a generic term in those days for “relatives”). Jesus replies: “Who is my mother? Who is my brother? The one who listens to my Father’s word and puts it into practice is my brother and sister and mother.” In other words, we can accomplish the same thing as Mary. Just as Mary allowed Christ to be generated in her, so we too, as brothers and sisters of Jesus, have the potential to permit the glory of God to emerge from our works. We, according to the plan of God for each one of us, can become genuine conduits through which the greatness of the Lord is transmitted to the world.

The modern world ceases to be fecund to the extent that it emphasizes the importance of autonomy, gratification, and the centrality of my own feelings. I am called to be a source of life, not the end goal of life! How can I nurture life in the world if I am fixated with the frivolous satisfaction of my own bodily life? Mary conceives virginally, highlighting the point that it is not our physical capacities that count. God can generate wonderful life from me, regardless of my incapacity, once I say “Yes! to him

However, there is a particular problem with our times which obstructs our capacity to generate divine life. To be the Mother of God requires, first of all, to be a mother. In order to be the source from which the works of God are generated, it is necessary that we have a certain fecundity. There is no doubt that we have the potential to be children of God and children of humanity at the same time. Our baptism endows us with this divine dimension and it is manifested in the lives of many holy people. But the problem of our time is the unprecedented unwillingness to be mothers and fathers, a closure to the kind of fecundity that is so evident in Mary. It is not only the common reluctance to generate children, and a negation of the duty to defend and protect new life, but a deeper problem with human identity itself. The delirium of independence and the ideal of individual autonomy has brought each one of us to the point of solitude. We are in love with ourselves, our own rationalisations, our own feelings, and our sensuality. The superficial fixation with self-gratification, the attempt to live life from one moment of pleasure to the next, destroys our fecundity. I am called to be a source of life, not the end goal of life! I am invited to generate new life, not make my life into its own final purpose! I am challenged to nurture life, to become a fount of light and good. Mary is the model and image of every Christian and is the mother of God, permitting the splendid action of the Holy Spirit in her. The fact that Mary conceives virginally highlights the essential point that our own natural capacities are not the central issue. What makes her a mother is her openness, her saying “Yes!” to God.

Jesus lies in a manger because he has come to offer himself to us as food. Like Mary, we become generators of divine life when we cease asking for what we want and instead offer ourselves to the Father so that he can transform the world through us

The shepherds go to look upon a child in a manger. He does not consider himself as a mouth to be fed but as bread for the nourishment of others. A manger is not a suitable place to lay a child in normal circumstances, but this child has come to give himself to us as bread. He has not coming looking for glory in human terms. He does not seek to be the centre of attention, to have dominion over the existence of others. He comes as bread broken for us and we adore him to the extent that we appreciate his hidden beauty and generosity. Jesus is not pretentious. He does not look for something from us: he comes to give. We are called to be children of our heavenly Father following the example of Mary, not as people who make demands, preoccupied with their own rights. Mary responded by offering herself, not by asking for something. All of us have something to offer. All of us have much to give. We are freed from our infantile state when the centre of our attention ceases to be fixated on what we want and need. The feast of the maternity of Mary: the feast of each one of us and our potential to be sources and origins of what is good.