Mary, Mother of God Year ABC 2023

Title

Father of God and Mother of God

Outline

We all have a mother and a father

We may not know one or both, but we know they existed

We may only have the knowledge, or they may have fulfilled their role by raising us in their image, which in itself can be either good or bad

I had faithful parents, but my mother had a psychiatric disorder that made her inconsistent in her love. This was a blessing in that my father’s constant faithfulness to both God and his marriage formed me, but it also meant I had a “mother-shaped-hole” that would blessedly be filled by Mary when I was 68.

For a good mother or father, the son or daughter is their most important possession in that their offspring is their selves and their future

All of these play a role in our texts

The Aaronic blessing is God’s blessing his chosen family through the Aaronic priests.

They “invoke my name upon the Israelites” with peace and blessing

God does the same to us, his chosen people, today

Galatians tells us that ultimately a woman was involved in this blessing

At a specific point of time God enters our history by sending his Son to be “born of a woman” - to become one of us, to have a mother - this is love, for he is sending his very self for our good

However, he also sent his Spirit, specifically “the Spirit of his Son,” into our hearts so that we relate to him as Father (Abba in Hebrew or Aramaic).

The link of love is joined: God loves us and his Son is birthed among us by Mary. But love must respond, the circuit must be completed for current to flow, so God sends his Spirit into our hearts, the Spirit of his Son in that he makes us know we are siblings of the Son, so we respond back in love and relationship: Father.

That circuit of love establishes us as part of God’s family, as his children, as his heirs, to use Paul’s language. The slave was part of the household, but not of the family - he or she was a possession that could be sold or even disposed of. The child, the heir, was the heart of the family and always would be.

But what did this great drama look like?

Some shepherds, low life of the hills, have experienced the announcement of this drama by angelic armies. But the sign is commonplace: go to Bethlehem and you will find a newborn (wrapped in swaddling cloths) laying in the home of a poor family (therefore in a manger).

They rushed to Bethlehem, asked who had sent for a midwife that evening, and pressed on to the house.

There are parents: Mary and Joseph (readers of Luke know how Mary became pregnant the shepherds did not) and a baby laying in the manger - had they come later all would have been in bed and the baby would have been laying next to Mary. It was so normal.

But the angels had given them eyes of faith, so they realize that this is a “Savior, Christ the Lord.” This is the Aaronic blessing in person. This is the confirmation of God’s promises.

The shepherds spread the word and no one believes them except Mary, who ponders on the words. Otherwise they are a “normal” poorer family.

Joseph plays his role, for on the 8th day the baby is circumcised and Joseph as father names the child “Yahweh saves,” “Jesus,” the name the angel Gabriel had given to Mary.

[Brothers and] Sisters, here is the mystery and the glory

God has blessed us by humbling himself to be born as one of us

Mary, chosen as Queen mother of the David king, who is God himself, lives our a normal pregnancy, birth, and mothering role in an obscure, poor context, but she is forming the human nature of the King of the universe. The only unusual thing about this upbringing are the faith-fill rumination of her heart.

Joseph contentedly fathers this child that he knows is not his, but is in fact more than he can imagine.

We are called to live out our lives, no matter how great or small in the eyes of the divine world (what they are in the eyes of this world does not matter), with the same humility, contentment, faithfulness, and normalcy that Mary especially and Joseph as well exhibited.

But God has not left us without help: Mary, who carried the God-child in her womb and mothered the growing God-man faithfully, will also mother us (filling any mother-hole we may have) and help us fulfill our callings with the faith, trust, humility and love that she exhibited.

Readings

Catholic Daily Readings 1-1-2023: Mary, Mother of God

FIRST READING

Numbers 6:22–27

22 The LORD said to Moses: 23 Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:

24 The LORD bless you and keep you!

25 The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!

26 The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!

27 So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.

Catholic Daily Readings 1-1-2023: Mary, Mother of God

RESPONSE

Psalm 67:2a

2 May God be gracious to us and bless us;

may his face shine upon us.

Selah

PSALM

Psalm 67:2–8

2 May God be gracious to us and bless us;

may his face shine upon us.

Selah

3 So shall your way be known upon the earth,

your victory among all the nations.

4 May the peoples praise you, God;

may all the peoples praise you!

5 May the nations be glad and rejoice;

for you judge the peoples with fairness,

you guide the nations upon the earth.

Selah

6 May the peoples praise you, God;

may all the peoples praise you!

7 The earth has yielded its harvest;

God, our God, blesses us.

8 May God bless us still;

that the ends of the earth may revere him.

Catholic Daily Readings 1-1-2023: Mary, Mother of God

SECOND READING

Galatians 4:4–7

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption. 6 As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

Catholic Daily Readings 1-1-2023: Mary, Mother of God

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Hebrews 1:1–2

CHAPTER 1

1 In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; 2 in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe,

GOSPEL

Luke 2:16–21

16 So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. 18 All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. 19 And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

21 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.

Notes

Catholic Daily Readings 1-1-2023: Mary, Mother of God

SUNDAY, JANUARY 1, 2023 | CHRISTMAS

MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

YEARS ABC | ROMAN MISSAL | LECTIONARY

First Reading Numbers 6:22–27

Response Psalm 67:2a

Psalm Psalm 67:2–8

Second Reading Galatians 4:4–7

Gospel Acclamation Hebrews 1:1–2

Gospel Luke 2:16–21

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