Mary Mother of God

Theotokos

The LORD said to Moses:

“Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them:

This is how you shall bless the Israelites.

Say to them:

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon

you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and

give you peace!

+ * + * +

Brothers and sisters:

When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,

born of a woman, born under the law,

to ransom those under the law,

so that we might receive adoption as sons.

As proof that you are sons,

God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,

crying out, “Abba, Father!”

So you are no longer a slave but a son,

and if a son then also an heir, through God.

+ * + * +

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.

+ * + * +

Today is the octave day of Christmas, that is the eighth day since the feast of the Nativity of Jesus. It is the oldest feast honoring Mary. The gospel passage for this feast is same as the Christmas Mass at Dawn, which tells of the visit of the shepherds to Mary's new born son, Jesus.

For this feast, the verses telling of Jesus being brought to the temple on the eighth day to be circumcised and given the name Jesus is added. Until recently, this day was called the feast of the Circumcision of Jesus. Today the focus for this feast is on Mary as Mother of God, and has the  importance of solemnity. 

In the first centuries, the Church struggled with the question of the true nature of Jesus. Was he merely a man, albeit, the greatest of all the prophets that God had raised up. Or was he much more, indeed, did he share in the very divinity of God? 

The First Council of Nicaea in 325, declared that the Son was true God, co-eternal with the Father and begotten from His same substance, arguing that such a doctrine best codified the Scriptural presentation of the Son as well as traditional Christian belief about him handed down from the Apostles. This belief was expressed by the bishops in the Creed of Nicaea, which would form the basis of what has since been known as the Nicene Creed.

The Church quickly realized that since Jesus is both man and God, and since Mary in her womb and gave birth to Jesus, it is right to call her, Mother of God - Theotokos - the womb that held within it the one who is both human and divine.

This is a great mystery of faith. In the 2nd Reading, Paul sees in this mystery God's wonderful plan for our humanity. 

• Jesus came from the divine to enter into our lowly humanity.
• He leads us back through our communion in his humanity to share in his divinity.
• So in baptism, we mere humans are born again and now we share in the divinity of Jesus.
• By our rebirth in Jesus, it is right to speak of Mary, mother of Jesus, as our mother as well.

As we begin a new calendar year - which reminds us that we are moving ever closer to our ultimate destiny, let us keep these things foremost in our thoughts:

• Jesus the son of God is our brother, dear to us as we are to him.
• That Mary is our heavenly mother, caring for us with the love and protection of a devoted and loving Mother.
• Think of ourselves, not as some weak and failing piece of humanity, headed for the grave, but as a royal child of God the FATHER, beloved as Jesus is loved, protected in the arms of Mary our mother, destined to live in this family for all eternity.

 + * + * +

January 1, 2015, WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR PEACE

Celebrated on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, 1 January, the World Day of Peace was introduced in 1967 by Pope Paul VI.

The message's theme is “No Longer Slaves, but Brothers and Sisters". Pope Francis highlights the issue of human trafficking and modern slavery.

This year's theme is drawn from Saint Paul’s letter to Philemon, in which the Apostle asks his co-worker to welcome Onesimus, formerly Philemon’s slave, now a Christian and, therefore, according to Paul, worthy of being considered a brother.  The Apostle of the Gentiles writes: “Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother” (vv. 15-16).

In his message he says "We know that God will ask each of us: What did you do for your brother? (cf. Gen 4:9-10).  The globalization of indifference, which today burdens the lives of so many of our brothers and sisters, requires all of us to forge a new worldwide solidarity and fraternity capable of giving them new hope and helping them to advance with courage amid the problems of our time and the new horizons which they disclose and which God places in our hands".

(from Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.)

Here is a link to Pope Francis message for this 2015 Day of Prayer for Peace - LINK

Feast of the Holy Family

 A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to Luke 2:22-40

When the days were completed for their purification

according to the law of Moses,

They took him up to Jerusalem

to present him to the Lord,

just as it is written in the law of the Lord,

Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,

and to offer the sacrifice of

a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,

in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.

This man was righteous and devout,

awaiting the consolation of Israel,

and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit

that he should not see death

before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.

He came in the Spirit into the temple;

and when the parents brought in the child Jesus

to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,

He took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go

in peace, according to your word,

for my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and glory for your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;

and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,

“Behold, this child is destined

for the fall and rise of many in Israel,

and to be a sign that will be contradicted

—and you yourself a sword will pierce—

so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

• Here is a link to a broadcast from Vatican Radio containing reflections and background information regarding the Feast of the Holy Family - LINK

• More from Vatican Radio on this feast. It contains text as well as an audio player to listen to this reflection. LINK

Voices of the Christmas Liturgies - III

Mass During the Day

Entrance Antiphon

A child is born for us, and a son is given to us;

his scepter of power rests upon his shoulder,

and his name will be called Messenger of great counsel.

• As we come into his holy place to celebrate this the third Mass of Christmas, we are greeted with this proclamation: "... his name will be called Messenger of great counsel."

• We must ready ourselves, as Mass begins, to still our frantic minds so that we will be able to listen and hear, for a message from God is to be told to us, and each person is meant to hear God speaking a word to them. What will it be? What will I carry home in my heart today?

Prayer

O God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature

and still more wonderfully restored it,

grant, we pray,

that we may share in the divinity of Christ,

who humbled himself to share in our humanity.

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

• One marvels at how much scientific information our generation has learned about our natural world and our place in its intricate systems. Yet, as for the question of how all this came to be, there remains much debate. 

• The opening prayer of this Mass speaks with certainty; this world and our humanity have been created by God. Reason itself can bring us to the doorstep of this knowledge, but this prayer takes us beyond and reveals what no one could ever have imaged.

• We are to share in that divinity that has created our lowly humanity.

Prayer over the Offerings

Make acceptable, O Lord, our oblation on this solemn day,

when you manifested the reconciliation

that makes us wholly pleasing in your sight

and inaugurated for us the fullness of divine worship.

Through Christ our Lord.

• In the land that experienced the first Christmas, there was a great temple where people came to place on the altar oblations, gift offering from their possessions, to be sacrificed in the hope that somehow these oblations would make things right between them and God. 

• It is not our things that God wants, rather it is our hearts. It is our hearts that replace that temple of old, where now God is pleased to enter.

• We are to bring some bread and wine and God will make of them a banquet to celebrate the true reconciliation only God can give.

• Come now, lets gather around his table. Let his peace fill your soul.

Preface III

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,

always and everywhere to give you thanks,

Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,

through Christ our Lord.

For through him the holy exchange that restores our life

has shone forth today in splendor:

when our frailty is assumed by your Word

not only does human mortality receive unending honor

but by this wondrous union we, too, are made eternal.

And so, in company with the choirs of Angels,

we praise you, and with joy we proclaim:

• The vigor of our youth quickly passes and the frailty of our human condition remains inescapable. Fear not! The Word has taken on our human frailty, "... and by this wondrous union we, too, are made eternal"

• As this truth grows stronger in our minds and hearts, fear is replaced by a certainty about my future that brings a peace the world cannot give.

Prayer after Communion

Grant, O merciful God,

that, just as the Savior of the world, born this day,

is the author of divine generation for us,

so he may be the giver even of immortality.

Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

• Now, as this celebrations ends, I leave here to enter this world shroud in shadows of uncertainty. But I am not alone. A gift has been given me, a Friend, Jesus to walk with me on my journey. His radiance will light my way, his presence will empower me meet the challenges that await me in the shadows, his love will raise me up when I fall. 

Leave now with these words of this Solemn Blessing echoing in your heart. Perhaps you might say them again as part of your grace, as you gather for your Christmas meal with family and friends.

Solemn Blessing

May the God of infinite goodness,

who by the Incarnation of his Son has driven darkness from the world

and by that glorious Birth has illumined this most holy night (day),

drive far from you the darkness of vice

and illumine your hearts with the light of virtue.

R. Amen.

May God, who willed that the great joy

of his Son’s saving Birth

be announced to shepherds by the Angel,

fill your minds with the gladness he gives

and make you heralds of his Gospel.

R. Amen.

And may God, who by the Incarnation

brought together the earthly and heavenly realm,

fill you with the gift of his peace and favor

and make you sharers with the Church in heaven.

R. Amen.

And may the blessing of almighty God,

the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit,

come down on you and remain with you for ever.

R. Amen.

Voices of the Christmas Liturgies - II

At the Mass at Dawn

Entrance Antiphon

Today a light will shine upon us, for the Lord is born for us; 

and he will be called Wondrous God,;

Prince of peace, Father of future ages:

and his reign will be without end.

• Dawn, with its morning light is breaking over our long Winter night. But as we make our way to this mass, it is a heavenly light lighting our way. The voices of the shepherds of long ago echo in our hearts; 

When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 

• Seeing is believing on Christmas Day. As you approach this sacred liturgy, ask that your heart will be filled with that excitement which filled the hearts of the Christmas shepherds.

Prayer

Grant, we pray, almighty God,

that, as we are bathed in the new radiance of your incarnate Word,

the light of faith, which illumines our minds,

may also shine through in our deeds.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

• That the light of faith, which illumines our minds, may also shine through in our deeds. When we leave this Mass today, this world will be the same. What will have been changed is out minds, the way we see the world and our place in it. This prayer will now define me:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

Prayer over the Offerings

May our offerings be worthy, we pray, O Lord,

of the mysteries of the Nativity this day,

that, just as Christ was born a man and also shone forth as God,

so these earthly gifts may confer on us what is divine.

Through Christ our Lord.

• The exchange of gifts is a customary practice for Christmas. It is never truer than here at mass. We bring gifts of bread and wine from our tables at home and we leave this communion table with "what is divine" in our hands.

Preface II

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,

always and everywhere to give you thanks,

Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,

through Christ our Lord.

For on the feast of this awe-filled mystery,

though invisible in his own divine nature,

he has appeared visibly in ours;

and begotten before all ages,

he has begun to exist in time;

so that, raising up in himself all that was cast down,

he might restore unity to all creation

and call straying humanity back to the heavenly Kingdom.

• These words capture for us the true meaning Christmas story. As you see and read the more classic Christmas stories, recall how they all have these words as their inspiration. 

Prayer After Communion

Grant us, Lord, as we honor with joyful devotion

the Nativity of your Son,

that we may come to know with fullness of faith

the hidden depths of this mystery

and to love them ever more and more.

Through Christ our Lord.

• As the mass ends, from the gospel reading, we have two models to take with us and imitate

• Mary - "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." Christmas may be over tonight in societies practice but for us we keep alive all that we have experienced this day, "reflecting" and learning more and more "the hidden depths of this mystery."

• The Shepherds -  "Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them." As a suggestion, consider reading the Nativity gospel as a prelude to grace at your Christmas dinner.