Mother of God

 We begin this new year by celebrating a woman who, to the eyes of the world, was nothing but a poor Jewish peasant girl. During the time she lived, she would not have stood out. She had no accomplishments or talents that would have made people take notice of her. Like any young woman of her time, she spent the day working in her home and attending to the needs of her family.

However, humble and unassuming as she was, no other woman in human history can make the claim that Mary does. No other woman has been called by the title under which we celebrate her this day - The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.

Why do we call Mary, “the Mother of God.” Simply put, she is the mother of Jesus and He is God. Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Before He was born of the Virgin Mary, He already existed in heaven with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus was not a human being who become God later. Neither was He just an inspired teacher and leader. Rather, He is God from all eternity as Saint John told us in the gospel for Christmas Day - “In the beginning^* was the Word, and the Word was with God,and the Word was God.”

This Son of God who existed from all eternity became a man through the Blessed Virgin Mary. As Saint Paul tells us in today’s second reading, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman…” God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary to announce to her that she would be the mother of the Messiah, Jesus. However, this child would be unlike any other baby who was ever conceived. Though Mary would be His mother, He would have no earthly father. As the angel Gabriel explains to her in the gospel of Saint Luke, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” Jesus is truly the Son of God because God is His Father. He is also the Son of Mary. For this reason, we rightly call Mary, “the Mother of God.”

We have to keep in mind, also, that though we call Mary, “Mother of God”, we are not claiming that she is greater than God or that she existed before God just as our mothers existed before we did. Mary is a human being just as you and I are. The title, “Mother of God” points not just to her but to her child, Jesus, who is God from all eternity.

At the same time, this exalted title teaches us that Mary played an important part in the salvation of the world by saying “yes” to being the mother of our Savior. She was not just a surrogate God used to bring His Son into the world. Rather, she was a mother to Jesus in every sense of the word. She carried Him in her womb for nine months. During those  first years of His life, Jesus drew nourishment from her body. As the Son of Mary, He would have looked like her and shared the same physical characteristics she and her parents did. Along with Saint Joseph, she would have taught Him how to speak, read and write. He would have learned the Scriptures from her and been taught to keep the commandments.

Mary’s role in the life of her Son did not end when he became an adult and moved out of the house. The New Testament tells us that she accompanied Jesus while He roamed the countryside and cities preaching the good news and healing the sick. Saint John tells us that she is there when Jesus performs His first miracle at the wedding feast in Cana. In fact, He performed that miracle only because she asked Him to when she noticed that the wine had run out. She is also there at the end of His earthly life standing at the foot of the cross. From that cross, Jesus pointed to Mary and told His beloved disciple, Saint John, “Behold your mother.” From that moment, Mary became the mother not only of God but of all those who believe in Jesus.

Just as we would turn to our earthly mothers in our time of need, we can turn to Mary. When we are heartbroken, discouraged and lost, she can comfort us. When we have looked everywhere else for a solution and need a miracle, we can turn to Mary and believe that she will bring our prayer to her Son, Jesus. Just as our earthly mothers would never turn us away, so we can trust that Mary will always open her arms to welcome us and that she will always be willing to bring our needs to Jesus.

We do not worship Mary because she is a human being just as we are. We only worship God. However, we should love Mary as our heavenly mother. No one loves Jesus more than she does, so we should ask her to teach us to love Him more and more. No one served God’s plan more perfectly than she did, and so we should ask her to strengthen us so that we can give ourselves over totally to Jesus. And no one was able to remain sinless as she did. Therefore, we should run to her when we are tempted and ask her to help us fight off the devil. As our mother, she will not deny us her help when we are in need.

Jesus is God. Mary is His mother. And so, Mary is the Mother of God. As we begin this new year, then, let us make a point of turning to Mary daily to ask for her prayers on our behalf, on behalf of our families and on behalf of our world. Let us look upon Mary not as an interesting figure from the Bible who lived 2000 years ago, but as our mother whom we can turn to in our time of need. Then we will begin to understand why God chose her to be the mother of His Son, Jesus - the Mother of God - and our mother as well.