Homily — Memorial: Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church (May 24)

Readings: Gen 3:9-15; Ps 87; John 19:25-34

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Today we celebrate a rather new feast, the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. Although instituted in 2018 by Pope Francis, it has its roots in apostolic tradition and in the witness of the Chrch Fathers.

For example, St. Augustine wrote that "The Virgin Mary...is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer...She is clearly the mother of the members of Christ...since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head."

And, then, in the year 431 the Council of Ephesus gave Mary the title, Theotokos, a Greek word meaning “God Bearer” or “one who gives birth to God” or as we say today, “the Mother of God.” By giving her that title, the council didn’t mean that Mary was the Mother of God from eternity. But because Jesus Christ is true God and true man, and Mary gave birth to Him, she is, therefore, the Mother of God in time.

It’s the misunderstanding of the Church’s long-held teaching on this relationship between Mary and Jesus that has led some Christians to think that we Catholics worship Mary as some sort of goddess. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. From the reality of this relationship, we can fulfill her prophecy in the Magnificat and can call Mary the “Blessed Mother.”

Today’s reading from Genesis sets the stage at the very beginning when God promises redemption to our first parents, whose prideful disobedience brought humanity to its fallen state.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel” [Gn 3:15].

It is these words to Satan that the Church has long called the proto-Evangelium or “first Gospel” because they point to the Redeemer who will enter into the world through a new Eve, through Mary. It was a promise fulfilled when Gabriel told Mary:

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” [Lk 1:31-33].

Mary, then, knew from the first that this child of hers was the “Son of the Most High.” But in the years that follow, she is given only glimpses of what it will all lead to: the visits of shepherds and Magi, the prophecy at the Presentation, the long trek to Egypt, the Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem – in each event Mary finds herself in the dark, but in every instance, she ponders these things in her heart.

She need not fully understand it all, and how could she understand? And so, she ponders. She steps away from the crowd, seeks the quiet of contemplation, and savors all that has been revealed to her. She ponders, she returns to the source, to that day when the angel proclaimed her to be, “full of grace” [Lk 1:28], to that day when her heart overflowed.

And in that pondering, Mary teaches the Church how to pray, how to accept God’s will, how to abandon oneself to God’s love. The pondering heart of Mary focuses solely on Jesus. “Do whatever He tells you” [Jn 2:5], she commands at Cana, for Mary is single-hearted. She trusts in God, just as she trusted when Gabriel asked for her response.

At the foot of the Cross, that same trusting, pondering, immaculate heart begins to understand the crucifixion of her Son. It is then that Jesus gives her to the Church and to the world. It’s a double commissioning, and the order is important.

“Woman, behold, your son” [Jn 19:26], Jesus tells His Mother, commissioning her, giving the Apostle, giving the Church, to her.

Only then does He say to the Church, to that faithful Apostle, “Behold, your mother” [Jn 19:27].

With these words, the Mother of God becomes Mother of the Church. Now her prayerful heart is focused on you and me, interceding for our salvation. And as Mother of the Church, she intercedes too for unity among Christians.

I’m convinced that it will be through Mary, through her prayerful intercession that the unity Jesus Christ prayed for in the upper room will finally arrive. Fifty years ago, we never heard of Protestants praying the Rosary, but no longer. Today thousands join in this prayer of intercession. And just a month ago, as Diane and I drove through South Carolina, we passed a church with the surprising name: Virgin Mary Baptist Church.

Yes, indeed, Mary, Mother of the Church, is active interceding for the salvation of all. It is she whom we honor today, Theotokos, the Mother of God and Mother of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, pray for us. 

And please pray for me today on the 24th annversary of my ordination. As the old saying goes, "Time flies when you're having fun..."

Homily: Memorial of the Immacuate Heart of Mary

Readings: 2 Tim 4:1-8; Ps 71; Luke 2:41-51

A long time ago, way back in the year 431, the Council of Ephesus gave Mary the title: Theotokos, a Greek word meaning "God Bearer" or "one who gives birth to God" or as we say today, "the Mother of God". By giving her that title, the council didn't mean that Mary was the Mother of God from eternity. But because Jesus Christ is true God and true man, and Mary gave birth to Him, she is, therefore, the Mother of God in time.

Icon: Theotokos

It's the misunderstanding of the Church's long-held teaching on this relationship between Mary and Jesus that has led some Christians to think that we Catholics worship Mary as some sort of goddess. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. But from the reality of this relationship, we can fulfill Mary's prophecy in the Magnificat and can call her the "Blessed Mother" [Lk 1:48].

As many of you know, motherhood is no easy vocation. Both my mother and my wife had to put up with a lot and sacrifice even more during those years when their time was focused so intently on raising their children.

But can you imagine how it must have been for Mary...to be the Mother of God...and be fully aware of it? After all, Gabriel didn't hide anything from her:

"Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end" [Lk 1:31-33].

And so Mary knew from the first that this child of hers was the "Son of the Most High."

"He will be...the Son of the Most High"

It must have been a remarkable family life; she and Joseph raising Jesus who is fully human, all the while aware of His divine origin.

Luke, and to a lesser extent, Matthew give us a glimpse or two of life in the Holy Family. It's as if the Holy Spirit is telling us, "You don't need to know the details of daily life in this holiest of families, but I will share a few incidents with you, so you will know who Jesus, Mary and Joseph really are."
Just consider all that Mary encountered:

The long arduous trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and the unexpected need to give birth in a cave, a stable fit only for animals.

The Presentation in the Temple, the prophecy of the pain she would suffer, the sorrow she would experience.

The life-saving flight to Egypt, refugees in a foreign land where they would await the death of a brutal king.

The quiet years in Nazareth, when she must have wondered how this Son of hers, this Son of the Most High, would fulfill all that had been prophesied.

And that one event Luke shares with us in today's passage: the Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem, when the 12-year-old Jesus is lost in the crowd of pilgrims. The panic she and Joseph experience, the frantic search, the joy of finding him, and their bewilderment when after three days He wonders at their parental concern.

"I must be in my Father's house."

In each instance Mary found herself in the dark -- just as later she wouldn't fully understand her Son at Cana, or when He asks the crowd, "Who is my mother?" [Mt 12:48] or when she cradles her Son's lifeless body in her arms at the foot of the Cross on Calvary.

But in every instance, Mary ponders these things in her heart. She need not fully understand these things; and, anyway, how could she understand? How could any mother fully understand the crucifixion of her Son?

And so she ponders. She steps away from the crowd, seeks the quiet of contemplation, and savors all that has been revealed to her. In doing so teaches us how to pray, how to accept God's will, how to abandon oneself to God's love.

Mary ponders, she returns to the source, to that day when the angel declared her, "full of grace," when her heart overflowed. Yes, that pondering heart of Mary is immaculate, perfectly pure in its intent, because it focuses solely on Jesus.

Mary is single-hearted. She trusts in God, just as she trusted when Gabriel asked for her response. But now, that same trusting, pondering, immaculate heart is focused on you and me, interceding for our salvation.

This is the immaculate heart, the heart of Theotokos, the Mother of God that we honor today.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us.

Homily: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God - January 1

Readings: Num 6:22-27; Ps 67; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21

Theotokos

1,600 years ago at the Council of Ephesus (431) the Church gave Mary a title: Theotokos, which means God-bearer. In bestowing this title on Mary, the Church confirmed that, as the Mother of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, she is truly the Mother of God. This is the feast we celebrate today: the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.

Her title has its Scriptural roots in the story we all know – the story Luke tells in those early chapters of his Gospel.  We’re all familiar with it. The Annunciation by the archangel Gabriel in Nazareth, and how the young Mary agreed to bear the Son of God, the Savior of the World. Yes, Luke describes Mary’s role vividly and leaves us with words we can never forget: “Let it be done to me according to your word” [Lk 1:38].

And then Mary, filled with the Spirit and carrying the Son of God in her womb, leaves immediately to make the long trek to Judea to visit Elizabeth. By visiting Elizabeth Mary really visits all of us. She carries Jesus to young and old, to the unborn John and to his aging parents. She carries the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world. And she proclaims this wonderful news in her song of praise and thanksgiving, the Magnificat:

“He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation…He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty” [Lk 1:50, 52-53].

Yes, Mary, the first Christian evangelist, spreads the Good News, telling the world of God’s mercy and justice. And thanks to Luke and the Holy Spirit we receive this Word of God.

The Shepherds of Bethlehem

Because it’s the living Word of God, you and I are truly present there in the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth listening to Mary as she praises God and thanks Him not just for herself, but for all of us. We are there, just as we are present months later in the rolling hills outside of Bethlehem. When the angelic host appear to the shepherds, we are there among them to hear the Good News proclaimed from heaven itself.

Indeed, this is exactly what the angel reveals. Listen to his words, the words you’ve heard so many times:

“Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you Good News of a great joy which will come to all people” [Lk 2:10].

This isn’t a message just for a few shepherds. No, it’s the Good News of Jesus Christ, a message for all people. As Mary proclaimed, all of this happened according to God’s promise “to Abraham and to his descendants forever” [Lk 1:55].

We, brothers and sisters, are these descendants of Abraham, our father in faith; for God promised him that he would be the father of a multitude of nations. It’s a universal promise, a catholic promise. And because we are there with Mary, the shepherds and Abraham, this revelation places a demand on us. Just as the shepherds went on to glorify and praise God for all they had heard and seen, we too are called to do the same.

It’s really not something we should put off; for throughout these first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel, we detect a sense of urgency. When Gabriel reveals that Elizabeth will also bear a son, Luke tells us that Mary set off in haste [Lk 1:39].

Mary and Elizabeth

Our Blessed Mother didn’t delay in carrying out this dual mission of hers. For not only was she the God-bearer, the carrier of the Good News deep within her, but she also carried God’s love to someone in need. Both acts were of such importance that neither could be delayed.

Yes, Mary set off in haste; but she wasn’t the only one. How did Luke describe the shepherds’ response in the passage we just heard?

“The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger” [Lk 2:16].

Moved by what they had seen and what they had heard from the angels, they could do no less. How blessed they must have thought themselves, for they would be the first to set eyes on the Messiah so long awaited by God’s people. Is it any wonder that they left “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them” [Lk 2:20]?

We too have received the Good News, brothers and sisters. We are all called to carry it to others, not in word alone, but in deed as well. Yes, Mary is the God-bearer who brought Our Lord into the world and presented Him as the Father’s gift to all of humanity. The shepherds of Bethlehem received that gift with joy and willingly and openly carried it to others.

What a remarkable gift it is! It’s a gift of love, arising from God’s hope that we will turn from our sinfulness and accept Him into our hearts. It’s a gift of divine forgiveness, of His outrageous mercy, a gift that will trump the power of sin and overcome all hatred, violence, revenge, addiction…It’s a gift of Jesus Christ Himself, a gift we receive in a most special way.

When we receive the Eucharist today, when we receive the Real Presence, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, you and I also become God-bearers, carriers of this gift. But what will we do with it? Will it change us, as it changed Mary, as it changed the shepherds?

Just as Mary carried Jesus to the world, we are called to carry Him to all the others in our lives. As the shepherds proclaimed the Good News of salvation, we are called to proclaim this message of hope to a world too often sunk in despair.

As we look forward to the beginning of a new year, let’s learn from both Mary and the shepherds, and follow their example. Worshiping here together on the vigil of this feast of Mary, the Mother of God, let’s join her in a prayer for peace: peace in the world; peace in our country; peace in our cities and communities. Pray for peace in our homes; but most importantly, pray for peace in our hearts. Pray that the darkness of sin will be overcome in this world and that the light of love — the way of Mary’s Son — will take hold in our hearts and the hearts of all.