Mary, Mother of God Homily

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.

Our celebration points towards the importance of the Incarnation. Through the Incarnation Christ came in order to take on our human flesh and to make His dwelling place among us. To state that Mary is the mother of God is to state that her Son is God the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. It is He who came in order that we may be redeemed. 

Through the events of His Nativity much had unfolded in the life of Mary. Shepherds have come in order to adore, angels have spoken, and a child now lies before her who is dependent while being eternally divine. It would be easy to rush past this moment and to attempt to explain it away. Rather, we are told that Mary, “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

As Saint John Paul II would state of her, “Mary’s faith was a faith that pondered. She advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, faithfully pondering the mystery of Christ.” Through such action she is showing us that holiness begins with attention. Without having our attention upon Christ and pondering Him we set out to be centered upon other pursuits.

In the Church we have the great gift which is the Most Holy Eucharist. Through such a gift Christ is present among us as we have the opportunity to receive Him humbly, bodily, and hopefully with the desire to continue to ponder Him in our heart. What we receive is to be kept, reflected upon, and lived in our daily life.

Nevertheless, despite such an opportunity we place so much in the way of Jesus. It is easy to strive to be the first out the door following communion and thus in our rush we fail to ponder that great gift that we have received into our life. The invitation to “go in peace” is not to return to the world alone, but with Christ who we must live and make manifest.

As Saint Bernard of Clairvaux would state, “Mary kept silence, but her heart spoke; she pondered the mystery not with words, but with love.” Likewise, we must ponder the gift that we have received and dare to put such things into action through our own outpouring of love. The Lord’s Nativity is not just an event of the past, but continues to animate us here in the present.

This celebration of Mary as Mother of God is teaching us to open our hearts more fully to God’s presence. Let us be so mindful and not overlook the presence of God in the midst of our daily life. May Christ, whom she bore into the world, be born anew in our hearts today as well as throughout the year to come.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.