January 1 is a significant event in the Church not only because it is New Years Day but because it is celebrated as the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. In this blog I would like to offer answers to the following questions: (1) Why is Mary, called the Mother of God, and (2) What is the significance of this attribution or title to the life of the Church?
Why is Mary, called the Mother of God? Some of our protestant friends may raise their voice in protest and may even say that it is blasphemous to call Mary, the mother of God. This protestation over the use of this title is based on some misconception about why Catholics call Mary the mother of God. We Catholics call Mary the Mother of God because the Son she bore was Jesus Christ who is both God and Man as far as the nature of his being is concerned, the Word incarnate who was “…God of God: Light of light: true God of true God. Begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men and for our Salvation, came down from heaven.”[i] Furthermore the council of Ephesus has this to say: “"We confess, then, our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and a body, begotten before all ages from the Father in his Godhead, the same in the last days, for us and for our salvation, born of Mary the Virgin according to his humanity, one and the same consubstantial with the Father in Godhead and consubstantial with us in humanity, for a union of two natures took place. Therefore we confess one Christ, one Son, one Lord. According to this understanding of the unconfused union, we confess the holy Virgin to be the Mother of God because God the Word took flesh and became man and from his very conception united to himself the temple he took from her". [ii] Hence the motherhood of God as bestowed in Mary does not mean that God has a beginning or end but it specifically applies to the mystery of incarnation. “The Word became Flesh” and Mary by her obedience and willingness to cooperate in the work of redemption became the Mother of Jesus, the second person in the Holy Trinity. The bond between mother and child is one of the closest of all types of human bonding. Thus in a more eloquent way, this mystery was expressed in the Scriptures thus: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.”[iii] From this passage, the redemptive roles of Jesus and Mary were thus made explicit. In contemporary times we refer also to Mary as co-Redemptrix because of her union with Christ her Son. There can be no one from among us more intimate with Jesus in his life, passion, death and resurrection than Mary the Mother of God. Joy filled her heart when her Son was born, her heart marveled at the miracles, wonders and wisdom made manifest during his ministry, a dagger pierced her heart at the passion and death of her Son and a great hope and gladness filled her soul at the resurrection of her Son.
The Council of Ephesus was the first Ecumenical Council of the Church to define the role of Mary and ascribed to her the role of Theotokos literally “The bearer of God”. Why did the council of Ephesus used the term Theotokos in opposition to the term Christotokos or “Christ-bearer”.[iv] The use of the former term is significant because it affirms the indivisible nature of Christ. That Christ as the begotten of the Father from eternity has assumed human form in the incarnation and thus the “Word became flesh”. But the nature of Christ is not divided, he is one Jesus Christ, both God and Man. The person borne by the Virgin Mary is the One Christ, both Divine and Human. Hence we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary above anyone else for she, by the singular grace of God enjoys preeminence among all saints and angels owing to her participation in the Redemptive work of Christ. Her motherhood has its reference to the mystery of the Incarnation and not on the origin of God as eternal without beginning and without end. Because God, as the source of every thing is eternal, has no beginning and end and therefore in no need of a mother or a father.
To answer the second question, what is the significance of this mystery to the life of the Church? The catechism of the Catholic Church refers to the Virgin Mary as the Eschatological Icon of the Church. “In the meantime the Mother of Jesus, in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven, is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines forth on earth until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim People of God.”[v] Thus our very own devotion to the Mother of God is also rooted in scriptures when Mary said: ‘All generations shall call me blessed…” We honor Mary and we implore her intercession and prayers especially in our needs. This honor that we give to Mary is not the same adoration as we give to Jesus and to the Father. For we worship God and our devotion to Mary seeks to foster Love and Adoration of God. For how can we not honor whom God seeks to honor. For if the Old Adam and Eve cause the fall of humankind by their pride and disobedience, Christ the New Adam with the cooperation of Mary the New Eve ( and also the icon of the Church as the Bride of Christ), effected our redemption by obedience, humility and faith.
Fellow pilgrims, happy feast day and happy New Year 2007. Maranatha!
Yours a poor servant in Hearts of Jesus and Mary:
Herbert
[i] Nicene Creed
[ii] Formula of Union A.D. 431. As quoted in Catholic Answers. http://www.catholic.com/library/Mary_Mother_of_God.asp
[iii] Genesis 3:15 (Douay-Rheims Version)
[iv] Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theotokos
[v] As quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church on http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a9p6.htm
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