The Church commemorates the divine motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, Mother of God on January 1. The Feast falls within the octave or eight days of Christmas.
In our second reading from today’s Mass, St. Paul writes, “When the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman.” Galatians 4:4Can we really understand the fact that God decided to become Man through a woman? That the creator of all things became human, like a creature? And to do so through Mary, a young maiden, who gave her yes to the mighty plans of God?
When Mary gave her “fiat”, her “yes”, she was launched into a whole new life. We can imitate Mary and continue to give a yes to God, day in and day out. He has great and wonderful plans for us. We can take them or leave them. But when we do give our yes, with full love and devotion, amazing things happen. We can be launched into a whole new life.
I love that on the first day of a new year the Church gives us this feast, with Mary as our model, for a fresh start. This enables us to dedicate the entire year to Jesus through Mary. We can start anew.
Father Tim Sherwood pointed out in his homily for the Solemnity that Mary witnessed glorious things at the birth of Jesus. She saw kings bow down to Him and present Him with gifts. But then she returned into the ordinary. She set out to raise up her son, like millions of other mothers before and after her. Let us, who have witnessed the glories of Christmas, go back into our ordinary lives and raise up Jesus, proclaim him and make Him known to all.
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