Homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/010108.shtml

I don’t know many Christians other than Catholics who go to Church on New Year’s. But ironically, we do not come together as a Catholic community to celebrate New Year’s at all – our new year began with the first Sunday of Advent, when we were told to look east into a bright future foretold by the prophets, a bright new future that would find expression in a babe born in Bethlehem to a virgin named Mary. In our liturgical and devotional life, then, we do not find ourselves this morning hoping merely for God’s blessing and for a ‘good year.’ Of course we find ourselves in a much different place, in the midst of a great Christmas celebration that will continue through Epiphany to the Baptism of the Lord. Long after the lights and trees are taken down from most Christian homes, they will persist in this place, the house of God, until the Christmas proclamation reaches its full maturity!
Today is the 8th day of Christmas. As we continue to celebrate the appearance of the Savior of the World in time, we turn once again to his mother, who had been chosen to be the first to experience the presence of the Savior in her womb, and now during the season of Christmas rejoices on behalf of the world at her chance to see His face! No one can celebrate Christmas as fully and as joyfully as the mother of Jesus. Today’s important feast that coincides with the secular hope that accompanies New Year’s Day finds the Church in great celebration that the world’s greatest hopes for prosperity and lasting peace have already been fulfilled in Jesus, the King of King and the Prince of Peace. For today our Savior has appeared on earth, who is Christ and Lord!
Today is the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, and as high as the heavens are above the earth, so much higher is this solemn celebration than any dropping of the ball in Times Square could ever be. To take nothing away from the optimism that can and should accompany the appearance of a new calendar year, so much more important is the appearance of eternity within time, made possible because Mary has been chosen to be the mother of the eternal God who has no Father. The earth on which we live is just a single thought of the Almighty, and to his eyes a thousand years are like a day. So much greater than should our solemn celebration be here tonight than any champagne, hors d’ouevres, toasts and friendships that we may enjoy later on. Because a Savior has been born of the Virgin Mother, man begins to restore to man during Christmas the gift of everlasting life, that is no longer measured in hours, weeks, months or years.
The Church never ceases to exalt this most blessed of all women. We celebrate with great consistency her role as the Mother of God, the greatest role given to any human person, man or woman, within the salvation history of any world religion. Through her, we celebrate the feminine genius of receptivity, and rehearse the truth that when God wanted to save the world, He received from this great woman the yes spoken on behalf of all humanity, man and woman alike. In salvation history, even though we know the grace of Her son’s resurrection was received in advance to prepare Her to be the mother of God, Mary’s ‘yes’ remains in many ways more fundamental than Her son’s sacrifice on Calvary. Just as Christmas is celebrated before Easter in the liturgical year, so also in our spiritual life it is our Marian receptivity to grace and to Jesus being born in our hearts that is prior to our ability to imitate Christ. Before we can serve Christ, we must know Him and receive Him as did His mother. Mary teaches us how to celebrate Christmas.
Without a doubt my own mother was the first to introduce me to Christ and to teach me how to welcome Him into my heart. My vocation comes through my own mother, and the Christian home she provided for me was my first seminary. Mary was worthy to receive Jesus, to have Him come under her roof, but because of her extraordinary humility we can ask Her to show us how to receive Jesus, especially in the Eucharist, even though we are not worthy to receive Him, nor to have Him come under our roofs. May the Mother of the God who has no Father show us how exalted is the humanity of one who allows Jesus to be born in his heart. May the Mother of God deepen and strengthen our celebration of the Christmas mystery, and help us to realize that this new year is already highly blessed because God is with us!