olemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
Before you begin reading this homily I would like you to watch this YouTube clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90q15xbXCRM
I will return to this clip later in the homily. Meanwhile, today is the feast of Mary, the Mother of God. The history and context of this feast takes us back to the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. Today, it is not my intention to go into the controversy that led to the title of Mother of God given to Mary. One of the reasons I am doing this is because the gospel reading for today is a continuation of the gospel story we heard last week at Christmas. Last week we heard how the angel after announcing the birth of Christ, gave the shepherds a sign by which to recognize to Christ. The angel had said, “You will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Today’s gospel tells us that the shepherds actually went to Bethlehem and found Mary, Joseph and the infant in the manger. I would like to take three verbs from today’s gospel reading and reflect on them. Hopefully, these three points will also give us our three practical implications.
- The Shepherds went and saw. Think about it! The sign that the angel announced was really not that spectacular. But the shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and saw what the angel has said they would see. I wish we had more details about their experience. All we can conclude is that their experience must have been very special because they went and announced what they had seen. Ben Breedlove also had his experience. I want to ask you something. Christmas is just over and could you recall your experience of Christ? Think about the gifts you received, the family and friends you shared them with; think about your worship and your prayer. In the midst of it all can you recall how Christ came to you this Christmas? Whatever your experience of Christ this Christmas, that is God's gift to you. Just like the shepherd, God has come to you as well. Do not let that experience pass away. Cling on to it, love it and pray about it.
- The shepherds announced. I want to refer back to the Ben Breedlove clip that we saw at the beginning of this homily. What you perhaps do not know is that Ben died the day before Christmas. He was only 18 years old. But before he died, he put what he believed in on Youtube, so that the whole world might know what he believed in. In today’s gospel reading, the shepherds announced what they saw in such a way that “all who heard it were amazed.” Once again, I wish we knew what they announced so that we could know what was amazing about the simple & humble sight they saw. So what we are left with is our own experience of Christ this Christmas. Our experience could be as spectacular as Ben Breedlove’s or as simple and humble as that of the shepherds. What are we going to do with our experience? What are we going to announce? Yes! Christmas is over but the good news of great joy must continue to be announced. God has entrusted a good news to each one of us; and God gives us the New Year to announce that good news and our experience to the rest of the world.
- Mary Pondered. Finally we come back to Mary, the mother of God. She had her own experience of God. In fact, her experience of God was so intense that the church calls her the mother of God. Today’s gospel tells us that Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” I would like to use Mary’s action to help us move into the New Year. I had numerous people tell me that the most meaningful thing they did during advent was to spend twenty minutes in prayer. Let us learn from Mary this New Year. I wonder if this New Year, with Mary, we too could take time and reflect upon Christ. We are in the Year of Prayerful Discipleship. How about we try to be a disciple, like Mary was? How about we continue with the twenty minutes each day to keep all these things and reflect upon them in our heart?
As we participate in the Sunday Eucharist this New Year’s day, let us offer our lives as a means for announcing the good news of Jesus, who is Christ the Lord.
- Fr. Satish Joseph