Helping to atone for our sins.

Homily for New Year’s Day

Mary, Mother of God -Solemnity

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. I had to look up the word solemnity to check I understood its meaning. In the Catholic Church, solemnity means a high-ranking celebration of a mystery of faith. Such feast days include the Trinity, important moments in Jesus’s life; Mary, his mother; Joseph his earthly father and various important saints.[i]

Last Friday was the Feast of The Holy Family. The theme in Ecclesiasticus is about respecting our parents and helping to atone for our sins. Respecting our mother is like amassing a fortune and by putting our mother at ease we are being obedient to God.[ii] Matthew’s Gospel shows how Joseph obeyed what God’s angel had said to him in a dream, and on waking he took his family and escaped to Egypt, only returning to the land of Israel when instructed to do so by God’s messenger in a second dream.

Today’s Gospel of Luke, tells us that Mary treasured all the shepherds had say about the way the Angels had visited them, telling them that Christ the Lord, their saviour had been born in Bethlehem. How a choir of angels had sung ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours.’

With her baby in her arms wrapped in swaddling clothes. She pondered on all these things. Eight days later, Mary and Joseph took their son to be circumcised, calling him Jesus as the Angel Gabriel had instructed before the child was conceived.

Over the last few days, many of us have been with our families to celebrate this festive season. For some, this will have been a hard year, having lost a loved one. It might even seem impossible to see where the light would come in to break up the darkness. Yet, as I found myself with our extended family, I too pondered on the marvel that was before me.

On one occasion, I was in the presence of six mothers and potentially four more. The eldest, now hard of hearing and often tired was my mother, and grandmother to my son, who was also present. His wife was there too, along with his mother and my wife.

An awkward teenager was struggling to fit in, still searching to find out who she is and not yet having the confidence to embrace the moment. Her mother was making sure all those in the room were fed well, checking on everyone, supported by other mothers, my wife, her sister, and sister-in-law.

The youngest in the room was two, enjoying the company of all around, especially as she was the centre of attention. There was a recently married couple, still waiting for their honeymoon which was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID, now three years ago. All mothers were smiling, all enjoying being with their husbands, and more so with their own children. My own wife’s face lights up every time she sees one of her sons. There is nothing in the world she would not do to ensure they were happy.

Back home my wife and I talked about today’s homily, as I tried several times to sit down and write something out. She asked me about my thoughts. I talked about the gathering we attended and was reminded of how nervous we had been when our first son was due. Would we be good parents? Could we cope? Then when the child was born, it was as though there was never a time when he had not been with us. When the second son was due, we wondered how we were going to be able to give even more love to this child and less to the first. Yet, when our second son was born, we found we had equal love for him too.

At that point, my wife took a taper next to a lit candle and lit it. When the flame separated into two, neither was diminished, both had equal shape and form. “That’s what love is,” my wife told me. “The flame remains bright for each of them. There are no favourites.”

This is the love God has for all of us. He has no favourites; he loves us equally. In the book of Numbers, the Lord tells us to ask for his blessing and keep us, to allow his face to shine on us, to be gracious with us, and to bring us peace.

Today we honour Mary, Mother of God, and are reminded of the words Angel Gabriel said to her, which forms one of our important prayers. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus. Holy Queen, Mother of God, prayer for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

 

[i] Wikipedia. (2022). Solemnity. [Online]. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopaedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solemnity [Accessed 30 December 2022].

[ii] Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6,12-14