Mary, the Mother of God

Sacred Hearts Convent - January 1, 1984

Today we celebrate Mary's part in the Christmas event. The Gospel describes her as reflecting on this “peak“ experience of her life, just as any woman after giving birth.

She tries to understand the marvelous events that surrounded her pregnancy: the angel Gabriel, the miraculous action of the Holy Spirit, the plan of God for the salvation of his people, the mission of the child God had given her to conceive: he would be the Son of the Most High, would sit on the throne of David to rule his people; he would be called Jesus, for he would truly be a Savior to his people...

I am sure she tried to anticipate also, as mothers do, what this child would be, how he would fulfill the glorious promises concerning him. But of all that, Mary had only a faint inkling. She had to walk by faith, wondering what this child would be and what lay ahead for her and Joseph. The Gospel today relates how, after the shepherds of Bethlehem visited the divine child and told Mary and Joseph about the wonderful apparition of Angels to them, "Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart."

Like Mary, we too are in many ways involved most intimately in the mystery of the Incarnation. Mary was the Mother of Jesus. But we are his Body, his mystical Body. That is why we speak of Mary as our mother too. In a real way, we are one with Jesus. In giving birth to Jesus, Mary acquires a special relationship to all who are the members of Jesus and share his very life.

Because we are so intimately joined with Jesus, and his life becomes our own life, we share in his mission. God became incarnate, and became our Savior by receiving a human nature from Mary. Now, he is incarnate in another body, the corporate body made up of all who have been baptized into Him, joined with him. What the mission, the saving mission of Jesus in our world today will be depends on all of us. We make his saving presence real, visible to the world of today.

We can ponder in our hearts today, with Mary, and like her, the Christmas event. We can ask the same question: what shall this child be? This child who now has taken flesh in us...

For example, he comes to bring peace to the world. It is only as he lives in us that he can do that. Our bishops are very conscious of that. And so, they spent much time, reflection and discussion to produce a Pastoral Letter, last May: The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response. A very remarkable document that has been well received by Protestant and Jewish leaders.

The conclusion of this document invites all men to work to be peacemakers, to prevent war. It is not enough to know how to deal with war. We must spend our best efforts to prevent crises by working to build peace.

And working for peace, as the Bishops teach at the very beginning of their long pastoral, rests on certain religious and moral principles: God is the author of life; and every human life is sacred. Jesus teaches us to love all men, even our enemies.

These are the religious and moral principles we must seek to live by and promote in the world. Then, if we are confronted by aggression, we must keep in mind that war, even defensive, can only be a last resort, and all means of averting it must be sought. And sometimes we must be ready to suffer injustice as the lesser of two evils.

As Christians, we are called to promote peace in our own immediate environment. "Blessed are the peacemakers." Jesus invites us to become actively "peacemakers." We must not wait for problems and crises to arise. Do like Jesus: bring love to all; practice forgiveness and reconciliation. We shall be doing the work of peacemakers.

What will the future of this child be? We can ask the same question as Mary did; but then, we don't know the answer. We must walk by faith like her. But the more we let Jesus live in us, the more surely we shall bring peace to the world of today.

Sermons on Mary Index