January 1, Saturday, Octave of Christmas | Feast: Mary Mother of God
Daily Readings: Numbers 6:22-27, Galatians 4:4-7 & Luke 2: 16 – 21
We begin the New Year celebrating the solemnity of Mary as Mother of God. Mary is given the greatest honor that a purely human being can have: to be the Mother of God. This does not mean that she is a goddess. She is only a creature. But the Person she conceived and gave birth to is no less than the Son of God, true God. Hence, she is rightly called the Mother of God, which means "the Mother of the Son of God according to His humanity.
Her chief characteristic as the Mother of God is her union with Jesus. Already in the plan of God, Mary was thought and willed by God together with the decision of God to send the Son of God as Man.
At the Annunciation, Mary accepted to receive Jesus into her heart and womb. At the visitation, she carried Jesus with her, and thus Elizabeth called blessed Mary and her Son, the fruit of her womb. And now the shepherds find her with "the infant lying in the manger." She will be seen again with Jesus at Cana and occasionally during His public life. She will be with Him on Calvary, at His darkest hour. And now she is with Him in the glory of heaven, body and soul.
Mary's glory is to be with Jesus not only physically but by a union of wills: like Jesus, she constantly hears the Word of God and keeps it. As St. Augustine put it, "It would have profited her nothing to be the Mother of Jesus if she had not also been His disciple (follower)."
My mother and my brothers declare Jesus "are those who hear the Word of God and act on it. (Luke 8: 21). When we hear the Word of God and do the Will of God, like Mary, we will also give birth to Jesus in the souls of people who will come across in our life in this New Year 2015. With St. Paul, we can say, "My children, for whom I am again in labour until Christ be formed in you (Galatians 4: 19)."
Mary, our Mother, intercede for us in this New Year 2022. We are wishing you a Prosperous and grace-filled New Year 2022.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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