Homily for the Solemnity of
Mary, Mother of God
Jan. 1, 2026
Luke 2: 16-21
Gal 4: 4-7
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.
The Circumcision of Jesus (Andrea Mantegna)
On the 8th day, in accordance with the Law,
Mary’s child becomes a son of the covenant.
He receives his name, “YHWH is salvation” or “YHWH saves.”[1] Paul links his birth with our ransom (Gal
4:4-5), the ransom that brings us into a new covenant, the covenant of God’s
grace by which we are saved and become children of God.
Jesus was “born under the Law” (4:4). On its face, that means the Law of Moses, the
law that commanded circumcision and the other ritual practices which Jesus of
Nazareth observed faithfully. Beyond
that, it means the law of human frailty and death, to which Jesus likewise
submitted. By submitting to death, he
was able to incorporate us into his life, to covenant us with himself in a
union both physical and spiritual, a union of human nature and of the Holy
Spirit. “God sent the Spirit of his Son
into our hearts,” enabling us to name God our “Abba” and to become heirs of
eternal life along with his only-begotten Son (4:6-7).
Jesus received his humanity from his mother,
of course. So we are happy to honor her;
by sharing her humanity with him “thru fruitful virginity,” as the collect
expresses it, he has been able to “bestow on the human race the grace of
eternal salvation” (collect), to give to us a share in his sonship by
adoption. The true Son makes us adopted
sons and daughters.
The 1st antiphon in last evening’s Vespers
puts it neatly: “O marvelous
exchange! Man’s Creator has become man,
born of a virgin. We have been made
sharers in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our
humanity.”[2]
A “marvelous exchange,” indeed! A mystery of faith. Praise to Mary, mother of Jesus, mother of
God, mother of our salvation.
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