Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

What a way to start the new year!

Today we celebrate Mary being the Mother of God! This dogma of Mary, Mother of God (or Theotokos in Greek) is the first Marian dogma to be proclaimed over 1500 years ago. In reality, this dogma was more concerned with Christ than with Mary. At the time, many Christians (they became called Nestorians) started to wrongly believe that Jesus was not really truly divine. They thought that Jesus was just human but a human that was so close to God that he was in some way united to God. In reaction to this belief, many Christians wanted to defend the truth that Jesus is both completely human and completely divine. They did so by starting to give Mary the title of Mother of God, thereby claiming that Jesus is divine in nature. This was then confirmed and promulgated in the Council of Ephesus in the year 431.

I find this fact of history beautiful because it shows something truly remarkable about Mary. She wants all credit, attention, and everything about her to be about her Son Jesus. Even her titles are titles that refer to her Son. Mary is constantly pointing us to Jesus. Even when she takes us under her maternity, she leads us to Jesus.

In today’s Gospel, we contemplate Mary presenting her Son to the whole world! She who has carried him and shared intimately and exclusively with Him for nine months now shows him off to the whole world: first, the simple shepherds, and then to the religious authorities for circumcision. Today, she gives us her tiny little Son for us to care for, cherish and share with all those around us.

Thibault Vincent