Liturgical evolution of this solemnity.
«
The solemnity of Mary Mother of God was
celebrated in the Eastern Church before the Roman Church.
«
In the V century France and Spain began to celebrate it on the Sunday before Christmas.
«
In Rome before the VII century it was celebrated
on January 1st.
«
In the XIII and XIV centuries the solemnity of
the Circumcision of the Lord replaced on January 1st the celebration of the Motherhood
of Mary.
«
In the XX century the celebration of the Motherhood
of Mary was transferred to November 11.
«
In the renewal of the liturgy promoted by
Council Vatican II in 1974, Paul VI removed the celebration of the circumcision
of the Lord on January 1st, and put again the Solemnity of Mary,
Mother of God on that day, and the circumcision of the Lord on January 2nd.
«
The title Mother of God given to Mary in Greek
is “Theotokos”= bearer of God, title given in the
First Council of Ephesus in 431.
Eight days after the Solemnity of Christmas, the
liturgy invites us to celebrate the Motherhood of Mary.
There are several different themes in this
liturgy:
o
The
blessings
o The
Spirit who makes us children of God
o Mary
who kept all those things in her heart
o And
holding together all these themes, PEACE. Since 1968 the Pope sends a Message
of Peace to the Church and to the whole world. Pope Paul VI established the
tradition.
FIRST READING –
The
book of Numbers is the fourth book of the 5 books of the Pentateuch or Torah or
Law.
Ø
It comes after the Leviticus.
Ø
It continues to narrate the story begun in the
book of Exodus. Israel continues its journey toward the promised land. At the
end of the book Israel sees the promised land in front of its eyes.
Ø
There is a message of hope in this book:
o
The punishment for the people’s sins is not the
last word from God.
o
Punishment
follows sin
o
Repentance
follows the punishment
o And pardon and peace, and new life follows
the punishment. It is manifested in the many different intervention of
God in the life of his people.
Book of Numbers
6:22-27
We begin the civil year with a
blessing, which according to the book of Numbers has been given to Aaron by God
to bless the children of Israel.
§
Let us see the elements of this blessing:
o May
the Lord bless you, may he pronounce good words upon you. God always blesses
us, he always says good things upon us. He gives us his love, his favor and his gifts.
o May
he keep you, may he count you among his possessions, may he protect you and put
you in a secure place.
o May
he show you his face. To see the face of God is the longing manifested in
different places and in different ways in the Old Testament.
o His
radiant face, gives joy, peace and everything that is good, beautiful and able
to fulfill the longing of our heart.
o May
he have pity or compassion of you. Compassion is the love of God who bends over
our lowliness. So many times we manifest this our lowliness by pride, desire of
material goods, abuse of power….
o Again
the author repeats “may God show you his face, and this will bring peace to
you. Peace is the sum of all good things
given by God.
§
The Church puts this beautiful blessing in the
liturgy of the first day of the civil year, in the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy
Mother of God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Psalm 67
MAY
GOD HAVE MERCY ON US AND BLESS US.
o
Psalm 67 is a psalm of praise and petition of God’s mercy upon us.
o
This psalm has a theme very much alike the
message of the first Reading.
SECOND
READING – LETTER OF PAUL TO THE GALATIANS
An author says that the letter to the
Galatians is one of the most strong and polemic documents among Paul’s
writings.
It is a letter addressed to the
communities of Galatia in Asia Minor.
Ø
Paul writes it to confront the statements made
by some of the community who wanted to conform to Jewish teachings, who put
first the Sinai Law to the Law of Jesus. .
Ø
Paul says in this letter that the works of the
Law will not save us, that we are justified only by faith in Jesus.
Ø
But this does not excuse us to live according to
the Law of Christ, that impels us to fight against evil in all its
manifestations.
Ø
Paul will take again many of these ideas about
law, salvation, freedom in his letter to the Romans, but in a more systematic
and less polemic way.
Letter to the Galatians 4:4-7
ü
The fullness of time announced by the prophets,
the time of the Messiah has come.
ü
The Messiah came born of a woman
o This is the only time that
Paul mentions Jesus’ mother, he does not say her name, but he says that he was
born of a woman.
o This is another way to say
what John writes in the prologue “the Word was made flesh…”
ü
Born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the Law
ü
So that we might receive adoption as children, and be no longer slaves
under the Law of Mount Sinai.
ü
In so doing he will give us the possibility to speak to God in the same
way Jesus does, calling him “Abba” Father.
ü
Paul continues saying, if we are children we are also heirs, because
God has wanted it so. It does not depend on our will, it is gift. Our only answer to the gift is to accept it
with love and to try to respond to this surprising love of our God, which has
been manifested to us in the Word made man.
GOSPEL – Luke
2:16-21
In this gospel we have several scenes:
«
The shepherds
o
Who go in haste because they are happy, they want to see what has been
told to them
o
They found the Holy Family
o
And they tell Mary and Joseph what the Angels had told them about the
baby
o
Afterwards they returned filled with joy, glorifying God and telling
everyone what they had seen and heard.
« Mary kept
all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
o
She has many things to remember and to meditate in her heart
§
Things about the baby
§
Things about herself, about God,
the annunciation with her joys and her fears.
§
Things about Joseph, his doubts about her, his decision to leave her,
his willingness to take her into his home.
§ Her conversations with
Elizabeth about the blessings that each one had received from God.
§
Her conversations with Joseph about the child, and how to fulfill the
mission that God had given them and communicated through the Angel.
«
The Circumcision of Jesus
o
The rite prescribed to Abraham (Gn 17)
o
Through this rite Jesus was officially incorporated into the people of
Israel, the people of the promises, the people of God.
o
And he is given the name of Jesus as the Angel had told them.
o
This rite is another way to say what Paul says in the letter to the
Galatians “born of a woman”, member of the human family.
 |
This virtue (poverty) should be so precious that it
was the first one that the Most Holy Humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
practiced, being born in a shoddy manger, poorer than all the poor in the
world. Oh poverty of my God, who could
inherit your riches! Christ Our Lord
taught us all the virtues in a heroic degree because it was God’s own virtue,
but it seems that he wanted to inculcate Holy Poverty in a particular way
(because she was his inseparable companion.
He is born very poor, lives in utmost poverty and dies in extreme
necessity), as the foundation of evangelical life. María
Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sistrers. Plan for the
Renewal of the Church 48. |
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