Mary, the Mother of God

Sacred Hearts Convent - January 1, 1989
Saint Anne Church - January 1, 1998

In the year 431, an ecumenical council held at Ephesus, solemnly proclaimed Mary to be truly the "Mother of God." In doing so, the Council was condemning the error of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who contended that in Jesus the divine and human natures were not only distinct but separate, and that Mary was the mother only of the human nature.

This confusion shows how difficult it was in those early times of the Church to understand the mystery of the Incarnation: how are we to understand that Jesus was true God and true man?

Another Council was held at Chalcedon in the year 151, 20 years after Ephesus, This Council explained in clearer terms that in Jesus there was one person and two natures. Now we had full unity in Christ: one person, the Son of God, having two distinct natures; a divine nature and a human nature. Just as we humans are one person having a soul (spirit) and body (matter). Because I am one person, I own both parts of my being. There is unity. When my mother gave me birth, she formed only the body, God gave me a soul. Yet, she is truly the mother of all I am. She is my mother. Likewise, Mary is the mother of Jesus, who is God in person. Just as we speak of the mother of the President, although she did not make him president; but she is the mother of him who is president. In the same way, we say, rightly, that Mary is the mother of God, because her Son Jesus is God. Because her Son is truly God.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of Mary, Mother of God. In today's 2nd reading from Galatians, Paul alludes to this motherhood when he writes, "When the designated time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman." He was thoroughly human.

It was necessary that Jesus should be born of a woman. The reason for this: Christianity is not a doctrine, like Buddhism, for example. Christianity is believing in somebody whose name is Jesus Christ. A doctrine needs no mother, only a teacher. But a human being needs a mother. Because Jesus was a human being, he needed a mother. There is no Christianity without Jesus and Mary, his mother. By a special calling of God and a miracle of the Holy Spirit, she conceived a Son, who was also the Son of God, the Messiah.

Mary definitely had an important part in giving the world its Savior. The coming of our Savior depended on her free consent, her Fiat, at the moment of the Annunciation. This makes her very important to all Christians. That is what Elizabeth proclaimed, in her own way, when Mary visited her. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, she greeted Mary with these words, "Blessed are you among women... Blessed is she who believed that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled." (Lk 1:42, 45).

God created man with a free will. He respects our free will. He does not force our cooperation with his plans. He waits on us for a free consent. So he did with Mary, so he does with each one of us. If we don't do our part freely, part of God's plan will not be fulfilled. Some people will not be saved, for example, if we do not bring Christ to them by our example, a word to enlighten, encourage, etc. That makes each one of us important. Mary was eminently important because of her unique calling to become the Mother of Jesus, the mother of God. The salvation of the world depended very much on her cooperation with God to be the mother of the Savior. She was just a lowly servant, as she said in her Magnificat, “but God looked upon his servant in her lowliness; all ages shall call me blessed." (Lk 1:48)

That's what we do today, as we honor Mary as Mother of God. We recall how God has done great things in her; and through her he gave us our Redeemer, Son of God, and Son of Mary.

This celebration is inseparable from Christmas. At Christmas, the focus is on Jesus, born in Bethlehem and the joyous proclamation: Joy to the world, a Savior is born. Today, we remember the Mother of Jesus, without whom there would be no Savior, no Christmas. And we say, with the Angel Gabriel "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.''

Sermons on Mary Index