Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God


Happy New Year to all and a blessed feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God!

Eight days after the feast of the birth of Christ, we remember Mary, Theotokus, which means God - bearer. Today, we look at and honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Mother of God, and also the Mother of the Church.

"Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this sense the Church's Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary. Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the "Seat of Wisdom."

~ Catechism of the Catholic Church 721

For Prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, go here.


WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR PEACE

The Church also takes time on this day, the first day of the New Year, to pray for peace. The child that Mary bears in her womb is truly human and truly divine, but he is also the Prince of Peace. You and I are the disciples of the Prince of Peace, and that means that we, like him, must seek to bring forth the Kingdom of Peace in our world. This begins with prayer. Peace will not come just by our willing it, and not even by our working for it. It will be first and foremost a gift of God. But we must be willing to be the instruments through which God will bring forth peace in our world. We must be willing to work for peace, by seeking reconciliation in our own lives, and by working for justice for all of God’s people.

Pope Benedict’s World Day of Prayer for Peace message for 2009 is entitled Fighting Poverty to Build Peace. He notes how often it is the sufferings of poverty and economic injustices that lead to the various conflicts and wars in our world, and how war then leads to even greater poverty and other forms of injustice.

Peace and justice are two sides of one coin. There will never be justice without peace and there will never be peace without justice.

Comments

  1. Ah, that more Catholics would remember that January 1st is a holy day and not just a football day. :)

    This article I wrote talks about the 12 days of Christmas and the Holy Days coming up this year.

    http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-28936-Portland-Catholic-Examiner~y2009m12d31-The-solemnity-of-Mary-Mother-of-God

    Pax vobiscum

    David

    ReplyDelete

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