Each year on January 1, the Church celebrates Mary as the Mother of God. It is from Mary that Jesus took flesh — our humanity.

We all know what it is like to look at a person and see their likeness to their parents. In a small town or a parish community, you may not know someone’s name, but you can tell they are a member of a specific family. Thus, Jesus was known as a Nazorean (Matthew 2:23), as the son of Mary.

Mary, by God’s grace, is the Mother of Jesus, and thus the Mother of God. As the Mother of God, she is Mother of the Church, and through our adoption in Christ (Galatians 4:4-7), she is also Mother of you and me.

Mary walked with Jesus. She fed him, dressed him as a child, and taught him, by her own example, trust in God and obedience to God’s will. Mary accompanied Jesus through his life, stood by him at the foot of his cross, was witness to his resurrection, was present at Pentecost, and was with the apostles during the early days of the Church.

Because Mary is also our Mother, she is just as surely present to and with us!

She walks with us, she holds our hands, she brings Jesus to earth, she brings Jesus to us, and she brings us to Jesus.

When we gaze upon the face of Jesus, we see the face of God, and the face of Mary.

We see Jesus as our Savior, God as our Father and Mary as our Mother.

This nearness of God in the persons of Jesus and Mary is indeed a source of ongoing blessing from God. We are invited in this new year to enter more deeply into this intimacy with God. We are encouraged to engage in conversation with the Lord and our Mother about the events of our life and our world. We are encouraged to deeper faith in Jesus and trust in God.

Mostly, Jesus and his Mother invite us to greater obedience to the designs of God, the blessings of God, the will of God for each of us and for our Church and world. As we are blessed, may we always be a blessing in return to others.

In these extraordinarily trying and difficult times, I invite you to find comfort and peace in the loving embrace of Mary, our Mother and the Mother of our hope, Jesus Christ.

The Lord bless and keep you!

The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!

The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace! (Numbers 6:22-27)

Northwest Catholic – January/February 2021