Holy Mother of God, Pray for Us

 

It is New Year’s Day, as you all know, and the World Day of Peace. Liturgically, it is the eighth day from the birth of Jesus and thus the day we mark his naming and the Jewish ritual of circumcision.

And just in case that isn’t enough for one tired congregation, today we celebrate Mary with her most ancient title, Mother of God.

That title tells us as much or more about the Son than it does about the mother. It affirms that “Mary is truly ‘Mother of God’ since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself” (CCC 509).

So where shall we begin? Let’s start with the New Year. All that really needs to be said about this New Year is that we sure hope it will be better than the old year!

Of course, we can do more than hope – we can pray. The First Reading contains an ancient blessing. We will echo it at the end of Mass, but all of us should be praying now that the Lord blesses us and our loved ones as 2021 begins its uncertain start.

As for the World Day of Peace, we can remember what Pope St. Paul VI said when he established this day in 1968. He asked that a world day of peace be observed “as a hope and a promise” at the beginning of every new year.

The octave day of Christmas is another focus today, reminding us of the Holy Name of Jesus. The name he was given by the angel is given by his parents during the Jewish ritual; it is the name that sums up all our hope as we celebrate his birth.

The angel told Joseph “you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” God gave him the name, St. Paul says, “that is above every name.” St. Peter, preaching in Jerusalem proclaimed that “there is no other name under heaven… by which we must be saved.”

 Today we recall what we heard the angels announce to the shepherds and to us at Christmas: “to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

So, there we have four important and beautiful things to keep in our hearts at Mass today: peace, the Incarnation, salvation, and the new year.

However, we can’t stop there. I’ve mentioned the importance of calling Mary the Mother of God, with the emphasis on “God”. But how can we fail to spend a moment or two placing the emphasis on “mother”?

Like many of you, I have been watching The Crown on Netflix. It has many inaccuracies, but one thing it gets right is the Queen’s family protocol. Although her daughter curtseys to her and her sons bow, they kiss her first.

I think that’s exactly the right order of things. The Queen is acknowledged first as a mother and then as a sovereign. Today, we must not forget the beautiful fact of Mary’s motherhood even as we remember that her Son was God.

The Catechism tells us that although Jesus is Mary's only son her spiritual motherhood extends to all those he came to save (CCC 501). As St. Paul says in his Letter to the Romans, God planned that his Son “might be the first-born within a large family” (Rm 8:29).

With a mother’s love, Mary continues to help us to be born again as Christians and to be formed as disciples of her Son.

This must be the first time I’ve managed to talk about all the main elements of the liturgy for January 1st. But I am assuming that those of you watching today, having been so limited in your New Year’s Eve festivities, are more patient and less tired than usual!

 I also hope that this year we are more aware than ever of our need for salvation, for God’s blessings, and for peace in our hearts and in the world.

May Mary, our mother, intercede for us as we ask her Son for all that we need for a holy and healthy life in 2021.