Solemn Feast of Mary, Mother of God
By Fr. Nathan Mamo, S.T.L.
(The Octave Day of Christmas)
Years ABC
Years ABC
Numbers 6:22-27 Galatians 4:4-7 Luke 2:16-21
On the Eighth Day of Christmas ... we have the Octave Day. Observing the octave day was an ancient custom afforded special holidays by expanding one day into an 8-day observance. The feast was at one time entitled the Circumcision of the Child Jesus explained succinctly in the final sentence of the gospel passage. Circumcision was the male mark of belonging to God’s covenant with Judaism (see Genesis 17) and the question of it’s necessity for Church membership became controversial in the Apostolic Church (see Acts 15). The feast’s title, MaryTheotokos (Greek for birth-giver of God, i.e., mother), is a statement of faith which unites both the Catholic Western and the Orthodox Eastern Traditions of the One Church.
Today’s reading from the Book of Numbers is the first ritual blessing ascribed to God for the new religious culture of the Israelites early in their mythic desert journey. The uninviting title camouflages the book’s message and purpose. It is part of the Torah, or the Five Books of Moses, in which God’s very presence among his Chosen People is understood as a demonstration of divine love and favoritism for the Israelites. The ancient Israelite sense and location of God’s true presence in the physical universe was on the Mercy Seat, a space directly above and upon the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was housed in a tent called the Tabernacle when the Israelites made camp on their Exodus pilgrimage in the desert. They used the Tabernacle even once they settled in the Promised Land. It was replaced by the Jerusalem Temple built in the days of King Solomon (ca 957 BC). Thus, the ancient Hebrew texts and culture would assert that the God of Israel “tabernacles among his people.” The strange verb, to tabernacle, was a way of asserting that God camps and dwells among the Chosen People. The blessing through Moses to Aaron and his sons (the first priests of the Old Covenant) came from that religious culture which valued the presence of God near to and intimate with the believers. Also, that to which we refer as the Second Commandment of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:7) forbad the human utterance of God’s Divine Name (see Exodus 3:13-15). So, the ancient Israelites began the custom of referring to God as the Lord, Adonai, without generally pronouncing the Divine Name. The ancient Israelites found their salvation partly in their ability to appeal to Adonai because of his nearness. Today’s lesson reminds us that God’s presence within and among us in our real flesh-and-blood life events is what gives us that sense a holy dignity within humanity which the Christmas-Epiphany Season describes as the Incarnation.
Writing to the Galatians, Paul argued against the assertion by some that any Gentile who would embrace the gospel message must first embrace the Law of Moses and become Jewish (including being circumcised for males). Paul ultimately says that whether one is Jew or Gentile is unimportant. He argued that Jesus is both Son of God and human, and completely in accord with the Law of Moses, a law, however, rendered no longer necessary by his Incarnation and Paschal Redemption. The Law of Moses had been given to assist the Israelites by providing them a religious culture. Membership in that culture was Salvation from their ancient perspective. In Jesus Christ, Salvation is redefined and through him it becomes available to all peoples. The generosity (grace) of God, God’s adoption of all believers through their embrace of the gospel message and ministry, and the enlivening power of the Holy Spirit in the believers’ hearts – these replace the ancient Law.
Finally, today’s gospel lesson repeats that of the Christmas Mass at Dawn, the visitation by the Jewish shepherds. The evangelist emphasizes that, “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” Words very nearly the same as these were used when Luke concluded his account of the infancy and childhood of Jesus (see Luke 2:51). Thus, Mary was no mere actor in this drama; she was a witness to the wonder of the Incarnation expressed by everyone from the Angel Gabriel, to the Jewish shepherds, to the temple prophetic personalities of Simeon and Anna, to the Gentile Magi in Matthew, and finally among the doctors of the Law in the Temple – all these episodes moved her to reflect on the ever-engaging mystery of God’s presence. She was also, in all these events, a model through whom we are confronted with the mystery of Christ’s Real Presence in this season, in the liturgy, and in our own lives. To embrace the Incarnation is for us to habitually reflect on this mystery. Being so thoughtful is in many ways a maternal task, one practiced by the true Mother of God. How present is Christ to you? How present are you to Christ? How is the parish church the presence of Christ in the wider community?
Today’s reading from the Book of Numbers is the first ritual blessing ascribed to God for the new religious culture of the Israelites early in their mythic desert journey. The uninviting title camouflages the book’s message and purpose. It is part of the Torah, or the Five Books of Moses, in which God’s very presence among his Chosen People is understood as a demonstration of divine love and favoritism for the Israelites. The ancient Israelite sense and location of God’s true presence in the physical universe was on the Mercy Seat, a space directly above and upon the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was housed in a tent called the Tabernacle when the Israelites made camp on their Exodus pilgrimage in the desert. They used the Tabernacle even once they settled in the Promised Land. It was replaced by the Jerusalem Temple built in the days of King Solomon (ca 957 BC). Thus, the ancient Hebrew texts and culture would assert that the God of Israel “tabernacles among his people.” The strange verb, to tabernacle, was a way of asserting that God camps and dwells among the Chosen People. The blessing through Moses to Aaron and his sons (the first priests of the Old Covenant) came from that religious culture which valued the presence of God near to and intimate with the believers. Also, that to which we refer as the Second Commandment of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:7) forbad the human utterance of God’s Divine Name (see Exodus 3:13-15). So, the ancient Israelites began the custom of referring to God as the Lord, Adonai, without generally pronouncing the Divine Name. The ancient Israelites found their salvation partly in their ability to appeal to Adonai because of his nearness. Today’s lesson reminds us that God’s presence within and among us in our real flesh-and-blood life events is what gives us that sense a holy dignity within humanity which the Christmas-Epiphany Season describes as the Incarnation.
Writing to the Galatians, Paul argued against the assertion by some that any Gentile who would embrace the gospel message must first embrace the Law of Moses and become Jewish (including being circumcised for males). Paul ultimately says that whether one is Jew or Gentile is unimportant. He argued that Jesus is both Son of God and human, and completely in accord with the Law of Moses, a law, however, rendered no longer necessary by his Incarnation and Paschal Redemption. The Law of Moses had been given to assist the Israelites by providing them a religious culture. Membership in that culture was Salvation from their ancient perspective. In Jesus Christ, Salvation is redefined and through him it becomes available to all peoples. The generosity (grace) of God, God’s adoption of all believers through their embrace of the gospel message and ministry, and the enlivening power of the Holy Spirit in the believers’ hearts – these replace the ancient Law.
Finally, today’s gospel lesson repeats that of the Christmas Mass at Dawn, the visitation by the Jewish shepherds. The evangelist emphasizes that, “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” Words very nearly the same as these were used when Luke concluded his account of the infancy and childhood of Jesus (see Luke 2:51). Thus, Mary was no mere actor in this drama; she was a witness to the wonder of the Incarnation expressed by everyone from the Angel Gabriel, to the Jewish shepherds, to the temple prophetic personalities of Simeon and Anna, to the Gentile Magi in Matthew, and finally among the doctors of the Law in the Temple – all these episodes moved her to reflect on the ever-engaging mystery of God’s presence. She was also, in all these events, a model through whom we are confronted with the mystery of Christ’s Real Presence in this season, in the liturgy, and in our own lives. To embrace the Incarnation is for us to habitually reflect on this mystery. Being so thoughtful is in many ways a maternal task, one practiced by the true Mother of God. How present is Christ to you? How present are you to Christ? How is the parish church the presence of Christ in the wider community?