SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD - Gospel (Lk 2:16-21) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
- NHA CHUA CHA
- Jan 2
- 5 min read
FIRST READING - Num 6:22-27
"So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them."
A reading from the Book of Numbers
22 The Lord said to Moses: 23 Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you!
25 The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
26 The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace![a]
27 So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.
SECOND READING - Gal 4:4-7
"God sent his Son, born of a woman."
A reading from the Letter to the Galatians
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption. 6 As proof that you are children,[a] God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Lk 2:16-21
"So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus."
✠From the Gospel according to Luke
16 So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. 18 All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. 19 And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
21 When eight days were completed for his circumcision,[a] he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
SOLEMNITY OF MARY THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD - Gospel (Lk 2:16-21)
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear People of God,
Today, the entire Church solemnly honors the Blessed Mary as the Mother of God.
She is the woman who always pleases God the Father. She received the special grace of the Immaculate Conception, perpetual virginity, and God took her body and soul into heaven. The Blessed Mary has been chosen by God the Father and placed in His plan of salvation from ages past.
In the plan of salvation, she collaborated with God to save humanity from the captivity of Satan.
The title “Mother of God” is the highest and most exalted of all the titles that God has bestowed upon her.
God is the Creator of heaven and earth, of all things and all creatures, the Creator of humanity, yet He humbled Himself to dwell within the womb of a woman chosen by God and placed in His plan of salvation, who is the Blessed Mary. That shows that no one else could do that except God.
Whatever God grants to someone, that person must live in a spirit of thanksgiving to God and must practice exactly what He commands.
The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of God is a model for humanity to follow. She absolutely obeyed God the Father. She collaborated with God in the plan of salvation by conceiving the Son of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.
When the angel announced the news, she replied with her “yes”: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”
At that very moment, the Son of God entered the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and from that time on, she has borne the title Mother of God.
When the Blessed Virgin Mary visited Elizabeth, her cousin, Elizabeth, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, also called the Blessed Mary the Mother of God: “And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Furthermore, the Word of God also made it known to everyone that the Blessed Virgin Mary is indeed the Mother of God. That was when the angel informed the shepherds to go to the stable in Bethlehem and said, “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
This very Infant will bring peace and salvation to all humanity.
The shepherds came and witnessed the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph beside the Infant, who is the Son of God. The Prince of Peace is the Son of God, who brings happiness to humanity, and whom the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived and gave birth to. God chose and made the Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of God.
Only the Blessed Virgin Mary was made the Mother of the Son of God and is called the Mother of God, as the Church today still proclaims: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
Today, on the first day of the new year, God also calls upon all humanity to offer prayers to God the Father through the intercession of the Blessed Mother of God:
May He have mercy on us, His sinful children.
May the Prince of Peace bless and grant peace upon all humanity in this new year.
Be wise and run to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and also the Mother of all people, and call upon her, saying that through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we pray that God may mercifully cast His gaze upon our sinful humanity; may He bless and bestow favor upon all humanity in this new year, so that we may know how to live in a way that pleases God the Father every moment, which is also what God the Father always expects of His children; and may He lovingly preserve, shelter, and protect us from the captivity of Satan, as stated in today's first reading: “May God shine His face upon our sinful humanity.”
Today, God calls upon all humanity to:
run to God and to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, and He and She will encompass, shelter, and preserve everyone from the captivity of Satan.
Always know how to revere and fear God and follow His example of modesty, humility, and poverty, which He lived with when He renounced all glory and honor in the Kingdom of Heaven to be born as a human like all others.
Furthermore, the exemplary life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, also the Mother of all humanity, and a model for humanity to follow, namely: humility, obedience, listening to the word of God, and putting it into practice in daily life.
In this new year, God the Father desires nothing more from humanity than to absolutely obey Him, following the example of the Son of God and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Thanks be to God. Amen
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