SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD

JANUARY 1st ,2023

INTRODUCTION

Liturgical evolution of this solemnity.  

«  The solemnity of Mary Mother of God was celebrated in the Eastern Church before the Roman Church. 

«  In the V century France and Spain began to celebrate it on the Sunday before Christmas.  

«  In Rome before the VII century, it was celebrated on January 1^st.  

«  In the XIII and XIV centuries the solemnity of the Circumcision of the Lord replaced on January 1^st the celebration of the Motherhood of Mary. 

«  In the XX century the celebration of the Motherhood of Mary was transferred to November 11. 

«  In the renewal of the liturgy promoted by Council Vatican II in 1974, Paul VI   put again the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on January 1^st. 

«  The title Mother of God given to Mary in Greek is  “Theotokos”= bearer of God, title given in the First Council of Ephesus in 431.    

Eight days after the Solemnity of Christmas, the liturgy invites us to celebrate the Motherhood of Mary.  

      There are several different themes in this liturgy:   

o   The blessings     

o   The Spirit who makes us children of God  

o   Mary who kept all those things in her heart  

o   And holding together all these themes, PEACE. Since 1968 Pope Paul VI started the tradition to  send a Message of Peace to the Church and to the whole world.

BOOK OF NUMBERS  –

The book of Numbers is the fourth book of the 5 books of the Pentateuch or Torah or Law. 

Ø  It comes after the Leviticus. 

Ø  It continues to narrate the story started in the book of Exodus. Israel continues its journey toward the promised land. At the end of the book Israel sees the promised land in front of its eyes. 

Ø  There is a message of hope in this book   

 

FIRST READING , Numbers 6:22-27

Ø  In this reading we are told that God spoke to Moses and said how should the priests bless the people 

Ø  This blessing has three points of interest  

o   The priest says: The Lord bless you and keep you  

§  These words speak of blessing and protection.   

§  Yes, the Lord blesses us always and He keeps us “as the apple of his eyes.”  

o   The second part of the blessing says:          

§   “May the Lord make his face shine upon you and give you his favor

§  Yes, all of us want to see the face of God, that his eyes be turned toward us and may He give the good we have asked for, with fervor and insistence.   

§  And sometimes we are disappointed because what we have asked for is not given to us or at least we do not realize that we already have it.

§  What will the Lord want to tell us when He does not grant the good  we have asked for us and for others? 

§  This is a question to pray over it

o   The third part of the blessing says “may the Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace” 

§  Indeed, if the Lord shows us his face, if we see the face of God, we will always have peace, since our joy will be unlimited

§  Who has not wanted to see the face of God? Who does not want to listen to God calling us “his children?” 

§  We have neither seen nor heard him with our physical eyes and ears, but He has manifested himself to us in many ways, in many situations of our life, in many loved persons but also in others that we do not love.   

Ø  The blessing ends with the phrase: So, shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites and I will bless them.”

RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Psalm  67

o   R. (2a) May God bless us in his mercy.
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R. May God bless us in his mercy.
May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R. May God bless us in his mercy.
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R. May God bless us in his mercy.o    

o   Psalm 67 is a psalm of praise and petition of God’s mercy upon us.

o   This psalm has a theme very much alike the message of the first Reading. 

  LETTER OF PAUL TO THE GALATIANS  

An author says that the letter to the Galatians is one of the most strong and polemic documents among Paul’s writings.  

It is a letter addressed to the communities of Galatia in Asia Minor. 

Ø  Paul writes it to confront the statements made by some of the community who wanted to conform to Jewish teachings, who put first the Sinai Law to the Law of Jesus.   

Ø  Paul says in this letter that the works of the Law will not save us, that we are justified only by faith in Jesus.  

Ø  But this does not excuse us to live according to the Law of Christ, that impels us to fight against evil in all its manifestations. 

Ø  Paul will take again many of these ideas about law, salvation, freedom in his letter to the Romans, but in a more systematic and less polemic way. 

SECOND READING: Galatians  4:4-7

ü  The fullness of time announced by the prophets, the time of the Messiah has come.

ü  The Messiah came born of a woman 

o   This is the only time that Paul mentions Jesus’ mother, he does not say her name, but he says that he was born of a woman. 

o   This is another way to say what John writes in the prologue “the Word was made flesh…” 

ü  Born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the Law  

ü  So that we might receive adoption as children and be no longer slaves under the Law of Mount Sinai. 

ü  In so doing he will give us the possibility to speak to God in the same way Jesus does, calling him “Abba” Father. 

ü  Paul continues saying, if we are children, we are also heirs, because God has wanted it so. It does not depend on our will, it is gift.  Our only answer to the gift is to accept it with love and to try to respond to this surprising love of our God, which has been manifested to us in the Word made man.    

GOSPEL – Luke  2:16-21

In this gospel we have several scenes: 

«  The shepherds

o   Who go in haste because they are happy, they want to see what has been told to them  

o   They found the Holy Family  

o   And they tell Mary and Joseph what the Angels had told them about the baby  

o   Afterwards they returned filled with joy, glorifying God and telling everyone what they had seen and heard.  

«  Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.  

o   She has many things to remember and to meditate in her heart  

§  Things about the baby 

§  Things about herself, about God, the annunciation with her joys and her fears. 

§  Things about Joseph, his doubts about her, his decision to leave her, his willingness to take her into his home.  

§  Her conversations with Elizabeth about the blessings that each one had received from God.

§  Her conversations with Joseph about the child, and how to fulfill the mission that God had given them and communicated through the Angel. 

«  The Circumcision of Jesus 

o   The rite prescribed to Abraham (Gn 17)

o   Through this rite Jesus was officially incorporated into the people of Israel, the people of the promises, the people of God. 

o   And he is given the name of Jesus as the Angel had told them.  

o   This rite is another way to say what Paul says in the letter to the Galatians “born of a woman”, member of the human family. 

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE
56th WORLD DAY OF PEACE

1 JANUARY 2023

No one can be saved alone. Combatting Covid-19 together,

embarking together on paths of peace

 What then is being asked of us? First of all, to let our hearts be changed by our experience of the crisis, to let God, at this time in history, transform our customary criteria for viewing the world around us. We can no longer think exclusively of carving out space for our personal or national interests; instead, we must think in terms of the common good, recognizing that we belong to a greater community, and opening our minds and hearts to universal human fraternity. We cannot continue to focus simply on preserving ourselves; rather, the time has come for all of us to endeavor to heal our society and our planet, to lay the foundations for a more just and peaceful world, and to commit ourselves seriously to pursuing a good that is truly common.

In order to do this, and to live better lives after the Covid-19 emergency, we cannot ignore one fundamental fact, namely that the many moral, social, political and economic crises we are experiencing are all interconnected, and what we see as isolated problems are actually causes and effects of one another. Consequently, we are called to confront the challenges of our world in a spirit of responsibility and compassion. We must revisit the issue of ensuring public health for all. We must promote actions that enhance peace and put an end to the conflicts and wars that continue to spawn poverty and death. We urgently need to join in caring for our common home and in implementing clear and effective measures to combat climate change. We need to battle the virus of inequality and to ensure food and dignified labor for all, supporting those who lack even a minimum wage and find themselves in great difficulty. The scandal of entire peoples starving remains an open wound. We also need to develop suitable policies for welcoming and integrating migrants and those whom our societies discard. Only by responding generously to these situations, with an altruism inspired by God’s infinite and merciful love, will we be able to build a new world and contribute to the extension of his kingdom, which is a kingdom of love, justice and peace.

In sharing these reflections, it is my hope that in the coming New Year we can journey together, valuing the lessons that history has to teach us. I offer my best wishes to Heads of State and Government, to Heads of International Organizations, and to the leaders of the different religions. To all men and women of good will I express my prayerful trust that, as artisans of peace, they may work, day by day, to make this a good year! May Mary Immaculate, Mother of Jesus and Queen of Peace, intercede for us and for the whole world.(n.5)