Jan 1: God-Bearers All

Luca Signorelli: The Circumcision
National Gallery, London, 1490

The Octave Day of Christmas
Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
New Year’s Day

Gospel: Lk 2:16-21

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb (NRSV, Lk 2:21).

Father, today is the octave day of Christmas and the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. It is also the first day of the New Year according to the Gregorian calendar. When Jesus was eight days old, his parents, according to the Law of Moses, brought him to be circumcised. It was Mary who bore him in her arms, Mary the God-bearer, in Greek “theotokos,” in Latin “deipara.” Thus, Father, did we in the Church, proclaim at Ephesus that Mary is the mother of Jesus, not merely according to his humanity, but in the totality of who he is, the Word incarnate. Mary’s great dignity comes from her son, Jesus. Should we ever even think of her, Lord, without reference to him? Or imagine her? Or portray her?

If everything that Mary is, Father, derives from your Son and hers, so Mary also points us to Christ. If today we honor Mary as theotokos, that means that all of us who believe, who accept and carry your Word living within us in the Holy Spirit, are all of us theotokoi, God-bearers to the world.

In presenting your Word to others, Lord, because we are rational creatures, we have the tendency to want to argue and convince through reason. But to argue with a sister or brother is to persuade them that they have been wrong, that they must cease to be who they have been. Argument in the end is at best a subtle form of violence. Your Spirit, Father, has been poured out upon all of humanity. Your Word, which we bear within us, is already present to all, even if not so consciously acknowledged. It is not by logic, however convincing and powerful, that witness is given but simply by lives transformed by your life and love. Life recognizes life and cannot help but bring about greater unity and conscious harmony. Help us, Lord, not to want to convince of your truth as to live out that truth in service.

Today, Lord, is also New Year’s Day, a day of new beginnings and a day to pray for peace. Enlighten us always that we may recognize that, not only every New Year, but every moment contains within it the challenge to begin anew, that you always offer us new life in the moment. Father, may the inner peace that acceptance of you in the moment inevitably brings radiate out from one to another, that true justice and peace among nations and peoples may take deeper root in the world and blossom, hopefully, in our time.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen