HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD
Homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Number 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21 Dearest brothers and sister in Christ, Happy New Year to you all! As we continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we turn our attention today to his mother Mary, but we continue to focus on Jesus as well. We give various titles to Jesus such as Savior, Christ, Messiah, Lord, Son of Man, and each of these titles expresses an aspect of our understanding of Jesus. In the same way we give many titles to Our Lady – there is a long list of them in the Litany of Our Lady of Loreto – and the title we celebrate today, “Mother of God,” and the title “Blessed Virgin,” are the two oldest titles given to Our Lady. In one sense, the title Mother of God says more about Jesus than it does about Our Lady. That is why I said we continue to focus on Jesus today also. What does the title Mother of God say about Jesus? It means that the humanity and divinity of Jesus are united in Jesus. There is not a separate hu...