HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
Numbers 6:22-27/ Psalm 67/ Galatians 4:4-7/ Luke 2: 16-21
Agorsor Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: The Wonder of God
The title of "Mother of God" was first used by Elizabeth at Mary’s Visitation. At that moment, Elizabeth said, "And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?" [Lk. 1:43] Elsewhere in the Holy Bible, we read that Mary is the Mother of Christ [Mt. 1:18-25] and that Jesus Christ is Lord and God. [Jn. 20:28] Consequently we can logically conclude that Mary is the Mother of God.
Mary’s Magnificat “ My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit finds joy in God my saviour…God who is mighty has done great things for me , holy is his name; His mercy is from age to age on those who fear him…”( Luke 1:46-50). Indeed, God has done great things for Mary and this thought fills Mary’s heart today.
The Gospel reading says it all. When Mary saw even shepherds joyously repeating what the angels have told them, we are told that “ … Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” ( Luke 2:19). Mary, as it were, was lost in deep contemplation. Words could not fathom what was being said about her Son, who is her saviour. Perhaps, Mary was asking herself whether the simple but difficult ‘Yes’ she said to God has become the source of this wonderment. Like hymn number 288 puts it beautifully, Mary was lost in wondering contemplation at what the shepherds were saying about the child Jesus.
During today's reading from the Gospel of Luke, [Lk. 2:15-21] we heard the words of the shepherds who said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." [Lk. 2:15] How many times have we Catholics repeated similar words? How many times have we said, "Let us go to the Church to hear the Word of God which has been made known to us." As the shepherds went to Bethlehem to adore Jesus in His physical body, you faithful believers come to Church to adore Jesus Who is physically present in the Sacred Tabernacle. Your acts of adoration are a continuation of the footsteps of the shepherds. Your children shall continue in these footsteps. And so will their children and their grand-children, etc... all for the glory of God.
When the shepherds returned, they glorified and praised God for all they had heard and seen, as it has been told them. They glorified and praised God for the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament, believing that through Jesus, the promised Messiah had finally arrived.
We too have much to glorify and praise God for. We praise and glorify God because we now know beyond any doubt that Jesus was the Messiah. He fulfilled the hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that were made regarding His coming. He died for us. On the third day, He resurrected. He sent His Spirit to teach and guide us. He instituted the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church for our spiritual well-being.
We are also told that “Everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say” (Luke 2:18). How astonished have we been who celebrate Christmas every year? Everything that God does always has a humble beginning. If we fail to recognize this fact, we will miss the opportunities that life offers us. We are invited to faith even in hopeless situations of our lives.
Faith and love could make the coming year, a promising one for all of us. It is easy to forget that Mary was above all a woman of faith. She left herself open to the possibilities of the call of God, no matter how incomprehensible it may be. Mary’s openness even included a call to be the Mother of God. “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say” (Luke 1:38).
Mary’s faith in God did not mean that she did not ask questions: “How can this be since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34). Indeed, Mary did not understand when his Son says “Whoever does the will of my Father is my brother, sister and mother” (Mark 3:35). But Mary’s faith did not waver. As we are told, “Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart” (Luke 1:19).
The first day of the year is placed under the sign of a woman, Mary. The Evangelist Luke describes her as the silent Virgin who listens constantly to the eternal Word, who lives in the Word of God. Mary treasures in her heart the words that come from God and, piecing them together, she learns to understand them.
As we begin a new year, we are invited to see Mary as an epitome of faith; an example of our own approach to daily life. Faith will make it possible for us to see that “God who is mighty has done great things for us and also that God who is mighty will do greater things in and through us in this New Year. When the tempest rages around us, Mary will calm the troubled sea because she has gone through the tempest rages.
Indeed, it is only where God is seen does life truly begins; only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed; each of us is loved and each of us is necessary. As Pope Benedict XVI puts it beautifully, there is nothing more beautiful than to know him and to speak to others about our friendship with Him. Mary recognized in the infant Jesus, God and her Saviour. Therefore, she makes God known through her beautiful song, ‘The Magnificat’.
Mary recognized that her entire life was the gift of God and she uses that gift in magnifying God. So again, she is a model of gratitude. When we reflect on the wonder of God, we will as a matter of necessity always be grateful to God.
In sum, let us ponder anew what the almighty God has done, is doing and about to do. We need to count our blessings one by one and thank God in all we have gone through in 2010 whether good or bad. Let us too, at the school of Mary, learn to become attentive and docile disciples of the Lord. With her motherly help, let us commit ourselves to working enthusiastically in the "workshop" of peace, following Christ, the Prince of Peace.