Long before I became a priest –even before I became a Catholic –I worked in a company where my supervisor was a Mennonite. He was a good man, with many fine Christian virtues, but he had no liking for the Catholic Church and would often speak of it disdainfully. "The Catholic Church is the Church of Mary," he would say, with the implication that the Lord Jesus had only second place in Catholic affections. Of course, if one really understands Catholic teaching, it would be impossible to make this accusation. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning, the end, and the center of everything we do and believe as Catholics.
Nevertheless, the Catholic Church is the Church of Mary in the sense that no other Christian Church honors Mary quite as much as the Catholic Church does. Take today’s Mass for example. To an outsider, it would seem that Catholics begin every new year with a great celebration in honor of Mary. Wouldn’t it be more proper to have a feast in honor of Jesus on the first day of the year? But don’t forget, the first day of the Church’s year is the first Sunday of Advent, not January first. Our solemnity of Mary, Mother of God is actually the last day of the octave of Christmas –the eight days during which we contemplate the mystery of God made man – the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Christmas octave begins with Jesus and ends with Mary, because, when thinking about the birth in time of the incarnate Son of God, it’s only natural to consider the one from whom he took human flesh.
Still, it cannot be denied that Mary is very important to us Catholics. So many prayers and devotions have Mary as their focus; icons, statues, even whole Churches, are made in her honor. It’s difficult to imagine the Catholic Church without Mary enjoying a prominent place of veneration and love. Why is this? Why do Catholics lavish such praise and respect upon Mary? Does this not somehow detract from Christ? Are we giving to a creature the worship that belongs only to the Creator? These are certainly legitimate questions. But in reality, when we honor Mary, we do, in fact, honor her Son. God is glorified in Mary and he is pleased when we express our love for the woman who is his greatest creation. For example, the title, "Mother of God," is really an affirmation of Christ’s divine nature. In the early centuries of the Church, there were some who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. So, in order to safeguard this essential teaching of our Faith, the Church promoted the practice of calling Mary Mother of God so that it would be clear that the One to whom she gave birth was fully God as well as fully human.
You see, Mary’s role in salvation history is to bring God the Son to the human race and, in turn, to lead all of humanity back to God. We see an example of this in today’s Gospel. When the shepherds come to visit the newborn King, they do not find Jesus alone. Rather he is with his mother, Mary and his foster father, Joseph. We can easily imagine our Lady holding the infant Jesus as the shepherds kneel in adoration. The scene which greeted them as they entered the stable, must have been not unlike the icons we have of Mary and her child. Traditionally, Mary is depicted as holding the child Jesus in her left hand while pointing to him with her right hand. Her eyes are focused, not on her baby, but straight ahead, toward us. This design is quite intentional; it is known in Greek as the hodegetria: the one who shows the way. Mary is looking to us, her sons and daughters, the members of Christ’s body, the Church, and, pointing to Jesus, she says, "this is the way to the Father, this is the way to eternal life." We honor Mary, not because she is the way, but because she is the guide, leading us to the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Today we venerate the divine motherhood of Mary. But we recognize that the one whom we call Mother is also our sister. She is the first to have become an adopted child of God through Jesus Christ. Mary is full of grace, not because of her own merits, but solely because of the merits of her Son, the only begotten Son of God who, as Saint John tells us, is "full of grace and truth." In today’s second reading, Saint Paul reminds us that, through the redemption purchased by Jesus Christ on the Cross, we have received adoption as sons and daughters of God. The sinless Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our mother, has given us the example of what it means to live in the freedom of the sons and daughters of God. The secret is humble obedience to God’s will. Through Mary’s intercession, may the Lord help us to follow her example and be slaves of sin no longer, but to live this new year and all our lives in true freedom, happiness, and peace.
-- © 2003, Rev. Timothy W. Castor