Sunday Reading

OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS (Cycles ABC)
SOLEMNITY OF THE VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

Readings:
Numbers 6:22-27
Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:16-21

Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), and LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).

God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments; therefore, we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).

The Theme of the Readings: Mary is the Mother of God
Today, we complete the Christmas Octave. January 1^st is the eighth day after Jesus's birth, as the ancients with Christmas Day counted as day #1. The eighth day of Jesus's birth was His circumcision and naming ceremony, according to the Law from the time of the covenant with Abraham (Gen 17:9-14; Lev 12:3; Lk 1:59-60; 2:21).

In AD 431, the third ecumenical Council of Ephesus put to rest the question of the validity of the Virgin Mary's title as "Mother of God." It declared that Mary of Nazareth was Christ's mother by the power of the Holy Spirit. And since Jesus is God-enfleshed, she deserved the title "Mother of God," as declared by her cousin, John the Baptist's mother. When Mary visited her, Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Lk 1:41-43). Elizabeth's reference to "my Lord" refers to Jesus, whose mother is Mary.

The council rejected the Nestorian heresy that regarded Christ as a human person joined to the divine person of God's Son and declared "that the Word, uniting to himself in his person the flesh animated by a rational soul, became man." In this statement, the Council pronounced that Christ's humanity has no other subject than the divine person of the Son of God, who assumed it and made it His own from His conception. For this reason, the Council of Ephesus proclaimed that Mary became the "Mother of God" by the human conception of God the Son in her womb through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Council stated that she was "Mother of God, not that the nature of the Word or his divinity received the beginning of its existence from the holy Virgin, but that, since the holy body, animated by a rational soul, which the Word of God united to himself according to the hypostasis, was born from her, the Word is said to be born according to the flesh" (CCC 466). The word hypostasis means "one substance" and refers to the union of the human and divine natures in the one divine person of Jesus Christ.

The First Reading is the God-ordained priestly blessing for the covenant people. God's blessing, presented in the singular, blesses Israel as one covenant people, but the framework surrounding the actual blessing is plural. The blessing invokes God's holy covenant name, YHWH (Yahweh), three times in the prayer. Christians see the three times invocation of the divine Name as a revelation of God's Triune nature before the Advent of Christ.

In the Responsorial Psalm, we pray that all of Earth's peoples might come to acknowledge Yahweh as their God. We petition the Lord to reveal Himself to the nations, hoping all humanity might join in praising Him and becoming partakers of His gift of universal salvation. Mary's son, Jesus, fulfills the petition for universal salvation, the psalmist's hope. In His Kingdom of the Universal [Catholic] Church, the desire of the psalmist to spread the "good news" of God's salvation to all peoples and welcome them into the family of God comes to fulfillment.

In the Second Reading, St. Paul wrote on the sonship of redemption that transforms Christians from sons and daughters in the family of Adam to sons and daughters in the family of God. Through the work merited by Jesus, Christians are freed from the world's control and become adopted children of God and Jesus Christ's heirs. The gift of the Holy Spirit through Christ relates every baptized Christian intimately to God the Father. And because of their divine adoption. Christians have the right of that intimacy to address God affectionately in their prayers, not just as "Father" but more intimately as "Abba," the affectionate Aramaic word little children used to address their fathers. Divine adoption is not merely a legal accession to the promised inheritance of Christ but the gift of a new life in the intimate family of the Most Holy Trinity.

In the Gospel Reading, obeying the angel's command, the shepherds sought out and found the "sign" of the newborn child in the manger. The humble shepherds were the first to proclaim the "good news" (the meaning of the word "gospel") that the Messiah, promised by the prophets, had come to humanity. As Mary witnessed the fulfillment of what the angel Gabriel told her at the Annunciation and Incarnation, she reflected on the unfolding events and what was likely to happen in the future. She knew this event was only the beginning of a journey that would change the course of human history. St. Luke used Mary's contemplation to call us to contemplate the meaning of these events, not just in the lives of Mary and those who were present at Christ's birth, but to consider what these events mean to the readers of his Gospel in their life's journey to eternity.

Today, we give special honor to Jesus's mother, Mary of Nazareth. She is the promised "woman" of Genesis 3:15, whose son's destiny was to conquer the power of the "serpent" Satan over fallen humanity (Rev 12:9). Mary of Nazareth is the mother of the Divine High Priest who, in His coming, fulfilled the petition of the priestly prayer in the First Reading. In the Second Reading, St. Paul stated that Jesus was "born of a woman, born under the Law," meaning that Jesus was thoroughly human and raised by a loving and devout mother who was obedient to the Law of the Covenant.

The Feast of Mary, Mother of God, speaks to the greatness of the Virgin Mary in salvation history. She is the mother of Jesus and deserves the title "Mother of God" because Jesus is both man and God, as declared by the Council of Ephesus in AD 431. Even when she did not fully understand the ramifications of her vocation (Lk 1:45), in faith, she submitted her whole life in obedience to God's divine plan. Her declaration, "May it be done to me according to your word," defined her life (Lk 1:38) and is the same declaration we should make as Christians on our journeys to fulfill the destiny God plans for our lives.

The First Reading Numbers 6:22-27 ~ The Priestly Blessing
22 The LORD [YHWH] said to Moses: 23 "Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 The LORD [YHWH] bless you and keep you! 25 The LORD [YHWH] let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! 26 The LORD [YHWH] look upon you kindly and give you peace! 27 So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them." [...] = IBHE, vol. I, page 361.

Excavating a burial cave on the slope of the Hinnom Valley south of Jerusalem in 1979, archaeologist Gabi Barkay discovered two small silver scroll amulets that dated to the 7^th century BC. When unrolled, both scrolls contained the same words of the priestly prayer recorded in this passage! These artifacts are the most ancient written record of Sacred Scripture ever discovered.

The blessing, expressed in the singular (verses 24-26), blesses Israel as one covenant people, but the framework surrounding the actual blessing in verses 23 and 27 is plural. Notice the invoking of God's holy covenant Name, YHWH (Yahweh), three times in the prayer. Christians see the Divine Name's three times invocation as another subtle revelation of God's Triune nature before the Advent of Christ.

The first part of each line of the blessing invokes the movement of God's gift to His people, while the second part of each line names His activity on their behalf:

Yahweh's Gifts	Yahweh's Actions
Line #1: bless	keep/protect
Line #2: shine	be gracious
Line #3: look	bring peace

Notice that His blessing results in protection, His shining face results in grace, and His looking or bestowing of Divine grace results in peace. The "peace" in the blessing is not the concept of "peace" as the absence of conflict. Instead, it is the "peace" of fellowship between God and His covenant child/children. Not only is the blessing that God's face will shine upon the faithful covenant member, radiating His Divine grace, but that the face of the devoted worshiper will reflect the glory of God. The blessing recalls Moses's shining face, reflecting God's glory after his encounters with Yahweh's Divine Presence on Mt. Sinai in the Tent of Meeting (Ex 34:29). This priestly blessing concluded the daily morning and evening (afternoon) Tamid liturgical worship services at the Jerusalem Temple (Mishnah: Tamid 7:2; also see Sir 50:21 and the book "Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice" that describes in detail the Tamid liturgical worship services.

The Virgin Mary of Nazareth received the fullness of this divine blessing as God's chosen woman (Gen 3:15; Is 7:14) and the "Ark of the New Covenant," as she carried in her womb the "Living Word" of God, the "Living Bread" come down from Heaven and the dead "Branch" that returned to life. See Hebrews 9:3-4 and the chart "The Virgin Mary the Ark of the New Covenant."

Responsorial Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6 ~ God Bless Us
The response is: "May God bless us in His mercy."

2 May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us. 3 So may your way be known upon earth; among all nations, your salvation.
Response:
5 May the nations be glad and exult because you rule the peoples in equity; the nations on the earth you guide.
Response:
6 May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you! May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
Response:

The petition in this psalm is not only for God's blessings and the salvation of Israel but also to petition God to reveal His saving plan to all peoples across the earth (verses 2-3). The hoped-for result is that all humanity might join in praising God (verses 5-6) and knowing His awesome works so that all nations might give Him their reverence and fear offending Him with their sins.

Mary's son, Jesus, fulfills the petition for universal salvation, which is the psalmist's hope. In His New Covenant Kingdom of the Universal [Catholic] Church, the psalmist's desire for God to spread the "good news" of His salvation to all nations, welcoming them into His covenant family, becomes a reality. St. Augustine wrote concerning the Church's role in the psalmist's hope of a universal gift of salvation: "O blessed Church! At one time, you heard, and at another, you saw. You heard in the time of promises, and you saw in the time of their fulfillment; you heard in the time of prophecy, and you saw in the time of the Gospel. For truly, all that is coming to be in these times was prophesied before. Lift up your eyes, then, and let your gaze wander over all the world; see the inheritance of the Lord, which is spread now to the ends of the earth" (Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, 47.7).

The Second Reading Galatians 4:4-7 ~ We are the Heirs of God through Christ Jesus
4 When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 to ransom those under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 As proof that you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then also an heir, through God.

In Galatians 4:1-7, St. Paul elaborates on the concept of the Christian as an "heir" of Christ that he introduced in 3:26-29. Notice that Paul wrote of two aspects: the negative part is the condition of the world before Christ's birth, and the positive is the sonship of redemption that transforms Christians:

The negative aspect of slavery to the world from which the redemptive work of Jesus Christ liberated humanity.
The positive aspect of Christian adoption as sons and daughters of God.

Through the redemptive work of Jesus, Christians are freed from the world's evil influences and become reborn children in God's family through the Sacrament of Baptism (Jn 3:3-5; Mk 16:16). The gift of the Spirit of Christ relates them intimately to God the Father (Gal 3:2-5). Because of their divine adoption, Christians have the right of that intimacy to address God affectionately in their prayers, not just as "Father" but as "Daddy," the better translation of "Abba," the affectionate Aramaic word little children used to address their fathers. However, notice that adoption is not only a legal accession to the promised inheritance (verse 7) but is the gift of a new life in association with the three Divine Persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (verses 4-6)!

The Gospel of Luke 2:16-21~ The First Proclamation of the Gospel ("good news") and Naming of the Child
16 The shepherds went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. 18 All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. 19 And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. 21 When eight days were completed for His circumcision, He was named Jesus, the name given Him by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

In the Bible, a "sign" leads to a significant event in God's Divine Plan, which may be natural or supernatural. The Church builds its liturgy of worship on the function of words, actions, and signs as symbols of the sacred. Seeking the "sign" the angels announced, they found the child lying in a manger (Lk 1:12). The humble shepherds were the first to proclaim the "good news" that the Messiah had come as promised by the prophets (verses 17-18).

The Feast of Mary, Mother of God, completes the octave of Christmas. It marks the eighth day since the birth of Christ on the 25^th (as the ancients counted) and was the day Jesus entered the covenant with God by the covenantal "sign" of circumcision and received His name. This sign prefigures Christian Baptism, which becomes our entrance into the New Covenant in Christ Jesus (CCC 527). For this reason, the Church chose January the 1^st as the first day of our civil calendar (our liturgical calendar begins with the first Sunday of Advent).

An angel first revealed Jesus's name to the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation (Lk 1:31) and later to Joseph (Mt 1:21), with both events occurring before His birth. Obedient to the angel's command, Mary and Joseph named the baby "Jesus," meaning "Yahweh is salvation" (Yahshua/Yeshua in Hebrew and Yehoshua in Aramaic). Since the Abrahamic covenant, circumcision was the sign of entrance into the covenant family relationship with Yahweh. The Sinai Covenant repeated the command of circumcision as a "sign" of covenant union (Gen 17:9-14; Lev 12:3, and Lk 1:59-60).

The ceremony of the child's circumcision emphasized his incorporation into the covenant people of Israel. It was the physical sign of an internal condition of a life dedicated to the God of Israel. In the symbolic significance of numbers in Scripture, eight is the number of salvation, resurrection, and new birth/regeneration. It also signified the first of a new series. For example, there are seven days in a week, but the 8^th day begins a new set of days. Jesus's Resurrection from death on the eighth day (Sunday), the day after the seventh day old Sinai Covenant Sabbath (Saturday), signified a new holy day observance called "the Lord's Day" and the beginning of the new and eternal covenant promised by the 6^th-century BC prophet Jeremiah (Jer 31:31; 32:40; 50:5). Also, the descent of God the Holy Spirit on the eighth day (Sunday), 50 days after Jesus's Resurrection (as the ancients counted), would signify a spiritual rebirth of the old Israel transformed into the new Israel of the New Covenant people of God (see CCC 877 and the document "The Significance of Numbers in Scripture"). Joseph and Mary's cooperation in Jesus's circumcision, according to the Law, is the beginning of fulfilling the old Mosaic Law in what will become the New Covenant in Christ Jesus. It is the beginning of a New Covenant Law focused on the love of God and love for one's "neighbor" (meaning brothers and sisters in the human family) by carrying on Jesus' mission of love and mercy to a fallen world.

As Mary witnessed the fulfillment of what the angel Gabriel told her (Lk 1:26-38), she reflected on the unfolding events (verse 19) and probably on what might happen in the future. She knew this was only the beginning of a journey that would change the course of human history. St. Luke used Mary's contemplation to call the reader to consider the meaning of these events, not just in the lives of Mary and those who were present at Christ's birth. We must all reflect on what those events mean in our life's journey of walking with Christ and our hope of receiving His gift of eternal salvation at the end of our earthly journey.

The humble shepherds were the first to proclaim the "good news" (the meaning of the word "gospel") that the Messiah, promised by the prophets, had come to humanity. As Mary witnessed the fulfillment of what the angel Gabriel told her at the Annunciation and Incarnation, she reflected on the unfolding events and what was likely to happen in the future. She knew this event was only the beginning of a journey that would change the course of human history. St. Luke used Mary's contemplation to call us also to contemplate the meaning of those events, not just in the lives of Mary and those who were present at Christ's birth, but to consider what the events mean to the readers of Luke's Gospel message in their life's journey.

Today, we give special honor to Jesus's mother, the Virgin Mary of Nazareth. She is the promised "woman" of Genesis 3:15, whose son's destiny was to conquer the power of the "serpent," Satan, over fallen humanity (Rev 12:9). She is the mother of the Divine High Priest who, in His coming, fulfilled the petition of the priestly prayer in the First Reading. In the Second Reading, St. Paul stated that Jesus was "born of a woman, born under the Law," meaning that Jesus was thoroughly human and raised by a loving and devout mother obedient to the Law of the Covenant (CCC 469).

The Feast of Mary, Mother of God, proclaims the greatness of Mary in salvation history. Since she is the mother of Jesus, she deserves the title "Mother of God" because Jesus is both fully man and God, as declared by the Council of Ephesus in AD 431. Even when she did not fully understand the ramifications of her vocation (Lk 1:45), in faith, she submitted her whole life in obedience to God's divine plan. Her declaration, "May it be done to me according to your word," defined her life (Lk 1:38). It is the same declaration we should make as Christians on our journeys to fulfill the destiny God plans for our lives.

Catechism References (* indicates Scripture quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6 and the need for universal salvation (CCC 588*)

Galatians 4:1-7 (CCC 1972*); 4:4-5 (CCC 422*); 4:4 (CCC 484*, 488*, 527*, 531*, 580*, 702*); 4:5-7 (CCC 1265*); 4:6 (CCC 683*, 689*, 693*, 742*, 1695*, 2766*)

Luke 2:19 (CCC 2599*); 2:21 (CCC 527*)

Mary is the Mother of God (CCC 466, 495*, 509, 2677*)

Church as the universal instrument of salvation (CCC 776, 780, 816)

Virgin Mary cooperated in humanity's salvation (CCC 511, 969)

Jesus Christ is true God and true Man (CCC 464-469)

Our adoption as sons and daughters (CCC 1, 52, 270*, 294*, 422*, 654*, 1709, 2009)

Jesus submits to the Law and perfects it (CCC 527*, 577*, 578*, 579*, 580*, 581*, 582*)

The New Law frees from restrictions of the Old Law (CCC 580*, 1972*)

In the Holy Spirit, we can call God "Abba" (683*, 689*, 1695*, 2766*, 2777*, 2778*)

The name of Jesus (CCC 430*, 431*, 432*, 433*, 434*, 435, 2666*, 2667*, 2668*, 2812*)