It was only a few days ago that I was laying back in my bed flipping through the channels on the television. As I was flipping through I stopped on one of the religious channels where a preacher was giving his Christmas message. He was at the part where he was giving his warning to the Roman Catholics who might be watching. His warning was that Mary was not the mother of God. He agreed that she gave birth to Christ, but said the child was wrapped within her womb and thus protected from the effects of sin that existed within her soul. He believed that Mary was only the mother of his humanity and had nothing to do with His divinity. It is due to thinking in this manner that the day we now celebrate came into existence. Today we celebrate Mary the Mother of God because that is exactly who this woman was.
In Greek Mary is known as being the theotokos which in English means the god-bearer. This term was accepted in 431 at the Council of Ephesus in order to assert the divinity of Christ. Jesus is the Son of God and was chosen to be born to Mary. Jesus is both fully divine and fully human. Mary could not give birth to only Christ's humanity because at that brief moment of birth he would cease to be God. This is an impossibility because Jesus is both human and divine and can never cease to be one of these persons. Therefore it is possible for us to proclaim that Mary is the god-bearer without falling into thoughts and actions which are contrary to the scriptures. It is through each and every time that we speak about the Blessed Virgin Mary that we acknowledge and are drawn towards the Christ child. Through the acceptance of Mary as the Mother of God we welcome her into our lives and ask her to draw us closer to her son.
As we enter into this new year may we do so through peace. In 2011 we have seen many examples that go against the peace that we should be in search of, but may we not lose hope. Instead may we continue to pray that peace may enter into the world. On Christmas morning the perfection of this peace entered the world through the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Mother of God brought the Christ child into a world that had been infected with sin and finally there was hope of peace. Within the walls of the manger the Lord was present ever giving his rays of love to each and every person inside of the world. Each visitor that would be drawn into the manger would be welcomed by His Mother who was filled with joy because she was able to welcome the world into the great moment of peace and joy.
In today's second reading Saint Paul wrote to the Galatians reminding them that Christ was born to a woman. Mary is thus honored because it was through her that Christ was born. It was through her that Christ became present in our world as being fully human and fully divine. She was a great vessel which was set aside from the sin of Adam and Eve in order to bring forth the Christ child into the world. Through this great moment in the life of the world we can finally draw closer to God the Father. Before we were separated due to sin, but now through these events the baptism of Christ will take place which will wash away all of our sins. Our Blessed Mother remains by the side of her son and desires to bring each of us to His Side. Turning towards her great love will not lead us astray, but will forever draw us closer and closer into the mystery of faith.
Today's Gospel passage brings us to the manger where Christ came to dwell. It was here that He was born to a woman. It was here that all hope for peace entered into this sinful world. It is here that His mother and father were present. They both remained by the side of their child as He laid inside of the manger. Mary was present inside of this dwelling place as the shepherds and other visitors stopped by to visit the Savior of the World. She was here as the Mother of God as these people came to visit her son and she was filled with much joy. This is the same joy that she shares with each of us as she draws us closer and closer to her Son. May we allow the Blessed Virgin Mary to welcome us into the dwelling place of this manger, so that we may be given the strength to endure a life of peace and joy.
No matter what accusations people may make about Mary the fact remains that she is the one who was chosen to bring Christ into the world. Christ came into the world through this woman and was always both fully human and fully divine. This humble servant of the Lord always points us towards her son. Trusting in her love and care will never led us away from God, but will always draw us closer and closer into His love. No matter how hectic our lives may become in this upcoming year Mary remains in the peace and quiet and desires to bring us to her Son. This new year will be filled with many joys and sorrows, but Mary still desires to enter into all of these moments. In the good and the bad it is her desire to be here for each of us to intercede for us and to always draw us closer to the peace that can be found inside of her Son.
I now close this homily with the same words that Pope Benedict XVI used during his homily for this solemnity and for the upcoming new year. "May the Virgin Mary give us her Son, may she help us to remain in the light of his face that shines upon us, in order to rediscover all the tenderness of God the Father, may it be she who supports us in invoking the Holy Spirit, so that he will renew the face of the earth and transform hearts, dissolving their hardness in the face of the disarming goodness of the Child who was born for us. May the Mother of God accompany us in this New Year; may she obtain for us and for the whole world the desired gift of peace."
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