Mary, the Holy Mother of God

“Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

Following the birth of Christ and the subsequent visit of the Bethlehem shepherds, the young mother Mary, had much to think about. The impact of the Annunciation and all the  months after that, must have had a powerful effect on her life.

Her son was to be  “great and will be called ‘son of the most high’”.

Remember “a son of God” did not mean deity. The Jews were fiercely monotheistic. The term identified a role, a calling, a representation — someone, or even something like Israel (Exod 4,22)  itself - acting as God’s agent on earth. 

Mary knew her son was to be special. She did not, as yet, know just how special he would be – not until his resurrection.

She just wanted to do God’s will. So, Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

That commitment to do God’s will is how Mary inspires me.

We never know the future. Who knows what God’s will for each one of us will be in this new year of 2026?

At the start of each year I say to God, “Thank you for the New Year”- just like I thank someone who gives me a present even before opening it. Every morning, on my way to take a shower, I thank God for the day to come. My plans for that day are provisional. They depend, as Mary’s life as mother, on what God wants. Not what I  - with my myopic sight – might imagine, and  want.

I do know, God wants my homilies to be short so they help rather than bore the congregation.

You might say, “Thank God.”

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