LK.2:16-21
“Mary’s greatness consists in the fact that she wants to magnify God, not herself.” (Benedict XVI) Today we celebrate the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The liturgy provides us an opportunity to begin the first day of the year commemorating Mary’s unique role in the history of salvation. She was an ordinary human person; her fiat and fidelity towards Abba Father raised her to this incomparable grace of being the mother of God. I don’t think any other human person can think of any other grace greater than this grace of being the mother of God. In the first reading of the day, we reflect on the priestly blessing by which Aron and his sons were asked to bless the Israelites: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” (Num. 6:24-26) When we meditate on the life of our blessed mother, we realize that she lived a life worthy of this blessing and she received it in its fullness.
In the second letter of St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians, we read: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman…” Eve, the first woman, failed in her fiat and fidelity to the Lord. It is Mary, the second Eve, who collaborated with God through her daring fiat and staunch fidelity. All the other heroic women mentioned in the Old Testament served as the pre-figuration of our Blessed Mother. At the appointed time, God sent his Son, which also implies God’s predilection and predestination concerning the Blessed Mother, the chosen instrument of God, whom God raised to the stature of the immaculate, who is also the New Arc of the Covenant.
In the gospel reading, we see the shepherds coming to meet the new born, and when they see the sign given by angels, the new born wrapped in linen, they share what the angels shared with them. Like this, several instances are connected to Jesus that reveal his divine identity. Mary was not excited about those moments; rather, she pondered everything in her heart. It is not a mere passive emotion or not being able to comprehend what is happening around her; rather, it is a gradual understanding of the divine mystery connected to the divine plan. All those who come to the manger not only see the son of God but also the mother of God, who would later be commissioned by Jesus at Calvary as the Universal Mother of all his future beloved disciples… The Luken narrative of the gospel emphasizes this pondering gesture of the blessed mother, which also tells us that the significant details connected to the history of salvation were narrated to humanity through the instrumentality of Mary, the mother of God, whom Luke considered his primary source.
As we celebrate this solemnity, let us be assured that Mary, mother of God is also mother of human Jesus and mother of humanity too…Her maternal intercession will help all of us to share in the divine life that Jesus gave us through his redemptive mission, and may her example inspire us to glorify God in all the seasons of our lives…