Happy New Year!
The year 2022 AD has rolled in!
We begin a new year in honoring Mary as the Mother
of God for being the Mother of Jesus. Given that Jesus also made his mother
also ours during his Crucifixion (John 19:27), we are also honoring our Mother,
the Mother of the Church, as the Mother of God, the Theotokos, as we have begun witnessing the unfolding Paschal
Mystery of Jesus since his human birth.
The New Year’s Day is the eighth day from the Feast
of the Nativity of the Lord, known as Christmas Day. It means that Jesus was
circumcised on the eighth day from his
birth, according to the Law (Leviticus 12:3), to be marked with God’s covenant
with Abraham (Genesis 17:1-16).
The Gospel Reading (Luke 2:16-21) gives a view of
Jesus’ first 8 days from his birth to brit
milah: circumcision and naming.
Called by the angel of the Lord, the shepherds came
to pay homage to baby Jesus upon his birth (Luke 2:9-20). And Mary contemplated
on what that meant (Luke 2:19) – though she knew that the son whom she just
gave birth to is the Son of the Most High, destined to be great, as foretold by
the archangel Gabriel (Luke 1:31-33).
It was the beginning of Mary’s contemplation of the
Paschal Mystery to be unfolded out of her Son, Jesus. She had such
contemplative moments, when Simeon and Anna prophetically spoke of him (Luke
2:22-38) and when the Magi came all the way to pay their homage to him,
treating him as the newborn King and the Messiah, as reflected by three gifts
brought by them: gold to signify Jesus as the King (Matthew 2:2; cf. Micah 5:1;
cf. John 18:33-37; 19:14, 19-22; cf. 1 Timothy 6:14-16; Revelation 17:14;
19:16); myrrh to signify Jesus as the
God-anointed evangelizer (Luke 4:18) to fulfill God’s promise of the glad
tidings (Isaiah 61:1-3) as well as, the suffering Messiah as prophesized in the
last Servant Song (Isaiah 52:13-53:12; cf. Matthew 26:6-7), and frankincense to
signify the divine priesthood of Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-14; 4:14-5:10; 9:11-10:18) (Matthew 2:10-11).
Throughout the year, we also reflect on this apocalyptic
Christological mystery, the Paschal Mystery, of Jesus as we continue to follow
Jesus’ growth to the adulthood through the rest of the Christmastide, which
concludes on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord on the Liturgical Calendar,
and as we further journey with him as he begin his public ministry upon his
Baptism and all the way to the Cross on which he lays his life for our
salvation and further beyond his Resurrection until Ascension. Then, we will
receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and reflect how Jesus’ teaching and Paschal
Mysteries are taught by the Apostles, to prepare for Christ’s return.
The First Reading (Numbers 6:22-27) is a priestly
benediction, invoking the name of Yahweh, three times, for him to bless and to
keep us (v. 24), to make His face shine upon and be gracious to us (v. 25), and
to give peace by turning His face to us (v.26), in order for the people of God
to be blessed by God (v. 27).
While Joseph drew the Davidic royal lineage (Matthew
1:6-16), Mary hailed from the Aaronic priestly (Levite) lineage. This was
suggested by the fact that Mary was relative of Elizabeth (Luke 1:36), who was
not only married to a priest, Zechariah, but also came from the priestly
Aaronic lineage (Luke 1:5). Thus, given her priestly (Aaronic, Levite) background, we can see Mary blessed her Son,
who is the Son of God Most High, hailed from the Father in heaven (John 3:16,,
the Theos-Logos (John 1:1) incarnated
(John 1:14) in her womb (Luke 1:31) by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35;
Matthew 1:20), born of her (Luke 2:7), on this important occasion of
circumcision and name-giving on the eighth day from his birth (Luke 2:21).
Imagine Mary citing this priestly threefold
benediction from the Law in marking the God’s covenant with Abraham, officially
recognizing baby Jesus as a son of Abraham, giving him the name, Jesus:
The Lord (Yahweh) bless you and
keep you!
The Lord (Yahweh) let His face
shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The Lord(Yahweh) look upon you
kindly and give you peace!
(Numbers 6:24-26).
And imagine that Mary is giving us this benediction,
too, as we are also her children through Christ, her Son (i.e. John 19:27).
The Second Reading (Galatians 4:4-7) reminds that we are children of God through Jesus the Son of God born of Mary. As we also bear the Spirit of Jesus, the Son of God, we, too, cry to God the Father, “Abba, Father”, with affection. Therefore, Mary is also our dear mother, as Jesus himself made indicated through John and wanted us to love her in our care (John 19:27). We are not only God’s adopted children through Christ (Ephesians 1:5) but also Mary’s children, as well.
Mary gave a priestly blessing, invoking the name of
Yahweh three times, upon her son, Jesus, in marking God’s covenant with Abraham
(Genesis 17:10-14). Now, as we are also her children, we have received the same
priestly blessing from our Mother, to kick off into a new year, for we, too,
bear God’s covenant with Abraham, for being adopted children of God through
Jesus the Christ, born of Mary.
As we begin a new year, Mary, as Levite of the
Aaronic lineage, has blessed us, as she did to her son at his brit milah ceremony on the eighth day
from his birth. We are ushered into this new year with the evolving covid-19
pandemic, continuing to face uncertainty. However, we have received the
priestly blessing from our Mother, who is the Mother of God, who blessed her
Son, who is the Son of the Most High, in hypostatic consubstantial (homoousious) union with the Father and
with the Holy Spirit. Because of her, being the Immaculate Conception, God’s
most favored one, full of grace (Luke 1:28), the human flesh can partake in
this Trinitarian divinity, through the incarnation of Theos-Logos (God-Word) (John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:31-33) by the power of
the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:20).
Omicron variance of SARS-2 virus has rolled over
into the new year with its new variance, called “omicron”, and we continue to
face more challenges. But, one thing for sure is that Mary, our mother, has given
her this priestly blessing, invoking Yahweh’s name three times, on us, as she
did to baby Jesus on the eighth day from his birth. God is with us, as Jesus has
been born to us as Emmanuel, which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah
7:14). So, we, too, can call Abba, Father
(Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:15), as Jesus has (Mark 14:36). And we always enjoy
Mary’s perpetual motherly intercession to bring her Son’s care and to ensure
that we are connected to her Son Jesus(i.e. John 14:20; 15:4-5; 17:21), as we
begin this new year. So, why do we have to start this new year with fear (i.e.
Psalm 23:1-4)?
Though the dragging pandemic may make the world
dark, God shines on our faith (Numbers 6:25), upon receiving Mary’s priestly
benediction, so that we can be light of the world (Matthew 5:14), as we walk
with him, the light, not the darkness, because of our fellowship with Mary’s
Son (i.e. 1 John 1:6-7).
What a blessed day it is today, remembering Mary’s
priestly blessing on the 8-day-old Jesus, for his circumcision and name-giving,
extending to us, as her beloved children, through our Lord Jesus!
Thanks to Jesus, who shares his mother with us, we
begin a new year with the priestly blessings given by Mary, to have God bless,
keep, shine,
This way, we walk in the light of God, through our
fellowship with the Son of Mary, the Son of God!
No comments:
Post a Comment