THEOTOKOS

MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
(Lk 2:16-21)

To listen to the Australian Catholic Radio Online:
http://cradio.org.au/resources/homilies/mary-the-mother-of-god/




    While we join the whole world in revelry in welcoming the new year, let us not forget that the first day of the year is the most important solemnity of Mary, her being the Mother of God!  Theologians call her the Theotokos!
    Her motherhood defines her whole being: as the mother of Jesus, mother of the New Humanity, mother of the Church and mother of us all. Vatican II affirms the place of Mary in the history of salvation: "truly the mother of God and mother of the redeemer, in subordination to Christ along with him, by the grace of almighty God she served the mystery of redemption" (Lumen Gentium #56).
    The motherhood of Mary to Jesus which started with the Annunciation reached its peak when she stood beneath the cross (Jn 19:25-26).  In his dying moment, she was called "woman" by Jesus which was the fulfilment of Gen. 3:15 ("I will put enmity between you and the woman…") and in reference to the woman during the wedding at Cana: "Woman what concern is that to you and to me?" (Jn. 2:4).   The same woman now clothed with the sun will be mentioned in the later part of the book of Revelation (Rev. 12).  After addressing her "woman" Jesus now turned to John and entrusted his mother to him.  From that time on, Mary became the New Eve who is mother of the new humanity.  This will become her new role as the Vatican II puts it: "By her maternal charity Mary cares for the brethren of her Son who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led to their happy fatherland' (Lumen Gentium #61). 
    St. Luke wanted to show the new role of Mary's universal maternity since the early beginnings of the Church when she is portrayed in prayer with the twelve apostles awaiting for the Pentecost (Acts 1:14).  Mary who is the most distinguished member of the Church, is personified as the icon of the Church, hence we also call her "Mother of the Church" of which Christ is the Head.  Consequently all those born in the Church by the virtue of baptism is also born of Mary, hence we also call her our own mother.  Because Mary personifies the virgin-Church (who is the "bride" of Christ), Mary remains a virgin and because the Church gives spiritual birth to all the children of God, Mary is also a mother.  This is the reason why we call her Virgin Mother!
    It is because of the Church and Mary that we participate in the divine sonship of Jesus hence we have all become adopted children of God: "Then God sent his Son born of a woman that we should become adopted sons" (Gal. 4:4).  The proof that we are sons is the fact that God sent into our hearts the spirit of his Son which cries out 'Abba Father'! (Gal. 4:6).
    Here are the very words of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego during the earliest Marian apparition: "Hear me and understand well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything."
    Our great consolation is that the Mother of God is also our very own Mother….

Please read the poetograph FIAT in my other blog:

http://frvladpoetographer.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post.html

EUCHARISTIC CRIB

CHRISTMAS 

 

To listen:
http://cradio.org.au/index.php/resources/homilies/christmas-homily/

       And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, come let us adore Him…

          For thousands of years, the Israelites had waited for their promised Messiah but when He was born, there was no room for Him in the inn.  During advent we have waited for the coming of Jesus, this Christmas, was there a room for Him in our hearts?

          Jesus could have been born in Rome, the seat of power; in Alexandria, the seat of knowledge, in Athens, the seat of beauty and wisdom. But He chose to be born in Bethlehem, in a stable, laid in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes.  These are powerful symbols that speak about the real meaning of Christmas.

          Why in Bethlehem?  Because Bethlehem means “house of bread.”  Jesus’ life from the very beginning of His earthly existence until the end was meant to be the Bread of life, nourishing the hunger of humanity.  Born in Bethlehem, being the city of king David, Jesus would become the New David shepherding the New People of God.  This universal King did not come through a conquest but through the radical simplicity of being a tiny baby.  He chose to be born in a stable, a most unlikely place to welcome divinity, because the people did not recognize Him, yet the animals did: “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib but Israel does not know, my people do not understand” (Is. 1:3).  He was laid in a manger where the animals feed because one day He would become food to feed the hungry.  That manger would serve as God’s cradle of the New Humanity.  He was wrapped  in swaddling clothes because his parents could not afford the royal robes.   There were no fireworks, no welcoming party because divinity chose to celebrate away from the funfare of the world in order to give way to silence and adoration.

          Who were God’s first guests? The poorest of the poor: Mary and Joseph and the shepherds.  They were the very first ones who saw the face of God because they were simple, pure and humble.

          These are the most striking symbols of the first Christmas that continue to remind us of the radical meaning of God becoming a man. God’s magnificent design is both overpoweringly attractive and awe-inspiring that no human wisdom could ever fathom.

          Christmas is just the beginning when God became a pilgrim journeying with humanity in an attempt to bring us back to where we should belong.  Today God has become a child so that all of us may become adopted children of God!