{"id":2381,"date":"2018-01-01T12:08:05","date_gmt":"2018-01-01T17:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2381"},"modified":"2018-01-01T12:08:05","modified_gmt":"2018-01-01T17:08:05","slug":"mary-as-mother-of-god-and-new-years-resolutions-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/mary-as-mother-of-god-and-new-years-resolutions-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary as Mother of God and New Year’s Resolutions – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mary, the Holy Mother of God<\/a>
\nNumbers 6:22-27
\nPsalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
\nGalatians 4:4-7
\nLuke 2:16-21
\nJanuary 1, 2018<\/p>\n

January 1st<\/sup> is associated with various things.\u00a0 In our secular society, it is the beginning of the new calendar year.\u00a0 The beginning of a \u201cnew\u201d year is seen as an opportunity to make changes with the hope of improving our lives.\u00a0 In this context, we call them New Year\u2019s Resolutions.<\/p>\n

Whenever we try to improve our lives, we should turn to God for guidance on what improvements we need to make and for God\u2019s blessing upon us as we strive to become what Christ calls us to be.<\/p>\n

In this context of seeking God\u2019s blessing, our first reading is an offering of God\u2019s blessing to the Israelites through Moses.\u00a0 In the psalm today we ask God to \u201cbless us in his mercy.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the fact that today is New Year\u2019s Day is not the reason that today is a holy day.<\/p>\n

Today marks the eighth day of Christmas.\u00a0 According to Jewish custom, this was the day that the Jewish males would be circumcised and given their name.\u00a0 Of course, as good Jewish parents, Mary and Joseph followed this custom with Jesus.<\/p>\n

So, today we honor Mary for her role as Jesus\u2019 mother.\u00a0 We celebrate this day as the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God.<\/p>\n

Our second reading today tells us, \u201cWhen the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus become flesh, born of the woman we know as Mary.\u00a0 Scripture is clear that Mary is the mother of Jesus.<\/p>\n

Yet, today\u2019s feast does not refer to Mary as \u201cMother of Jesus\u201d but \u201cMother of God.\u201d\u00a0 How could Mary, a human being herself, give birth to God who is eternal, without a beginning?<\/p>\n

We need to understand that calling Mary \u201cMother of God\u201d rather than \u201cMother of Jesus\u201d is not about her status.\u00a0 It\u2019s about Jesus.<\/p>\n

In the early church there was much debate about the human and divine natures of Jesus.\u00a0 Speaking in merely human terms, we cannot understand how Jesus could be both human and divine but that is our faith, given to us through the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 From this, Mary was given the title of \u201cMother of God\u201d to remind us that Jesus is both human and divine.<\/p>\n

We may not understand the two natures but we accept it in faith.\u00a0 Mary herself did not understand all that was said of her son Jesus but she believed.\u00a0 As the shepherds told her what the angel had said to them, she \u201ckept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Mary\u2019s other titles is \u201cQueen of Peace.\u201d\u00a0 Mary was a thoughtful woman, reflecting on all that she heard.\u00a0 Recognizing Mary in this way, January 1st<\/sup> in our Church is a World Day of Prayer for Peace.<\/p>\n

When we think of praying for \u201cpeace,\u201d the first thing that comes to mind might be peace in the sense of the absence of war and violence.\u00a0 Indeed, we must pray for this type of peace but when we proclaim today as a World Day of Prayer for Peace, we need to go deeper.<\/p>\n

It is not simply about ending our wars but looking for peace in our hearts that is freedom in our hearts from the things that can lead to war, greed, desire for power, and injustice.<\/p>\n

Greed and desire for power can lead us to sins that build up our own earthly wealth and power at the expense of others.\u00a0 Some wars start when someone or some group chooses to use military power to take what does not belong to them.<\/p>\n

Injustice, meaning everyone not receiving their fair share, can also lead to wars and violence, because people who do not have enough come to think they must fight just to have enough. \u00a0We might feel far removed causing such injustice but it can begin with us simply consuming more than we need, leaving others without enough.<\/p>\n

So, what might you change in your lives to become more peaceful and thoughtful in your lives?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mary, the Holy Mother of God Numbers 6:22-27 Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 Galatians 4:4-7 Luke 2:16-21 January 1, 2018 January 1st is associated with various things.\u00a0 In our secular society, it is the beginning of the new calendar year.\u00a0 The beginning of a \u201cnew\u201d year is seen as an opportunity to make changes with …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Mary as Mother of God and New Year’s Resolutions – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82,94],"tags":[385,386],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-Cp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2382,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2381\/revisions\/2382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}