Mary Mother of God | Luke 2:16-21
A priest was about to baptize a baby. Turning to the parents, he says asked them, “what name have you given your child?” The parents proudly responded: Michael Jonathan Alexander Patrick Smith III. Hearing this, the priest turned to his altar server and said, “please bring a larger container - with a name like that, we’re going to need some more water!” Usually, the name that a child is given is very significant. This is certainly the case in the Bible.
The name “Jesus” that Mary’s son is given is highly significant since it tells us something about his identity and mission. In the Gospel today, we hear the report that, after eight days, the child born to Mary was named Jesus, the name given to him by the angel Gabriel (Luke 2:21). The name “Jesus” is composed of two parts: 1) an abbreviation of God’s name YHWH, and 2) the semitic verb (Hebrew: ישע) meaning “to save/rescue”. Therefore, In 1st c. Judaism, the name “Jesus” was interpreted to mean YHWH saves or YHWH helps. The name given to Mary’s child tells us the he is the one through whom God saves and delivers his people. Wherever Jesus is present, God is saving and helping us. Although Jesus no longer physically walks the earth as he did some 2000 years ago, the texts of the New Testament tell us that Jesus is still present to us in various ways: in the Sacraments (especially the Eucharist), in the Bible, in community, that is, our relationships with others, in prayer, and in the poor. Wherever Jesus is, God is with us, helping us.
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| [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
It is, however, all too easy to miss the ways that Jesus is present to us. As a result, we are often unable to appreciate how God is helping us each and every day. Think about these questions for a moment. At the end of the day, when you look back at all that has happened, is it easier to see the good that has occured or the bad? When you consider the relationships you have in your life, especially those closest to you, is it the positive or negative qualities of the person that most readily stand out? When you consider the possessions that you own, the car you drive and the place you live, what comes to mind first, the good things that you do have, or the things that other people have which you do not? I find that it is all too easy to focus on the bad things that happen in each day, the negative qualities of people I am close to and the things or opportunities that I do not have in my life. For example, the other day I saw a chrome Lamborghini driving down 41st street and, after wondering why anyone would pay to have their Lamborghini chromed, I started to think less of the car that I drove. This is a dangerous thing because, In reality, the car I have is a great blessing. I can easily forget the many blessings I have: the relationships in my life, the talents God has given me, the great comfort in which I live. It is through these blessings that Jesus is present to us each and everyday.
From Mary, we can learn how to reflect on our lives so that we can become more aware of the various ways in which Jesus is active in our lives. In the Gospel, we read that after the shepherds reported what the angels had told them about her child, she “pondered all these things in her heart”. It seems that Mary needed to take the time to reflect on who her child was, to better appreciate his mission. Taking the time to reflect on our own lives in order to better understand what Jesus is doing is an important trait of Mary that we should imitate. St. Ignatius of Loyola promoted a type of prayer called the examen. After the Mass, this prayer was the most important spiritual practice for this saint. The examen is somewhat different from an examination of conscience that we do before confession. In an examen, we take a moment to look back on our day and to see the different blessing we have received. These can be very simple things. Someone said something kind to us. We were able to help somebody. We read something inspiring in the Bible or spiritual book. In these simple blessings, Jesus is present to us. The more that we can become aware of these blessings, the greater sense we have of Jesus helping and saving us. From the Gospel, we see that for Mary this practice of prayerfully reflecting on what was happening around her was very important.
As an old year ends and a new year begins, we read in the media many “year in review” articles. The ten best movies of the year. The five most popular books of 2018. It might be helpful to do a short examen of 2018 in order to create our own year in review list. Perhaps we could call it, “my greatest blessing of 2018”. Creating such a list would help us grow in an appreciation of how Jesus was active in our lives in this past year. This would allow us to enter 2019 with a greater sense of hope and confidence in Jesus’ support. What is something that happened in this past year that you are particularly grateful for?
