Readings: 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21
By Michael McCabe, SMA
Today, the 1st of January 2026, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, honouring Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. This feast invites us to reflect on Mary’s unique role in God’s unfolding plan of salvation, and encourages us to imitate her virtues – her faith, obedience and courage – and to seek her intercession as we begin the New Year.
When the famous film director, Stephen Spielberg, was asked why he made principal character of his 1982 movie, E.T., ugly rather than handsome, he replied that he wanted to make a creature that only a mother could love. This response tells us a lot about mothers. They are seen as the embodiment of that total and unconditional love that is God’s way of being. Mary was the most famous mother who ever lived, the mother of Jesus Christ, and, as he was both God and Man, the Mother of God (Theotokos) as the Council of Ephesus solemnly declared in 431 AD. While it is customary to dwell on the privileges associated with this august title (All generations shall call me blessed’ (Lk 1:48) – I wish to draw your attention to the human aspects of her role as Mother.
The hymn, ‘The Baker Woman’, brings out Mary’s motherly love for her Son. In the words of this lovely hymn, Mary gave the baby Jesus ‘the fire of her love, the salt of her tears and the warmth of her heart.’ She was probably in her mid teens when she received God’s invitation to become the mother of His Son. As she carried him in her womb for nine months, she ‘longed for him with love beyond all telling’, as the Second Advent Preface reminds us. She gave birth to him in a humble manger, as our gospel reading from Luke tells us (Lk 2:16). Then, in the family home in Nazareth, she nursed him, taught him how to walk and talk, to read and write. With the help of her husband, Joseph, she reared him from infancy to adulthood. Jesus lived with her for 30 years or so, in other words, for most of his life. We are told by St Luke that, during the time he was with his mother and Joseph, Jesus ‘increased in wisdom and stature and favour before God and people’ (Lk 2:52). When the time came for her Son to leave home, she gave him away. She was with him when he died and lived out the remainder of her days with the apostle, John.
Mary’s role as Mother began the moment she said yes to God’s Word. Let us reflect briefly on that ‘yes’ of Mary. Her ‘yes’ to God was probably the greatest act of faith a human being has ever made, and was of decisive importance in bringing about God’s plan for our salvation. Once assured that it was through God’s Spirit that she would become the mother of Jesus, Mary responded with the total gift of herself: ‘Be it done unto me according to your word’ (Lk 1:38). Speaking of her decisive response to the God’s invitation, Pope Francis reminded us of her courage, as well as her faith and obedience: ‘She knew how to reject fear, even while sensing that her ‘yes’ would bring her tremendously difficult trials.’
Mary’s courage in accepting to become the mother of Jesus is also highlighted by the American poet, Denise Levertov, in her beautiful poem ‘Annunciation’:
Called to a destiny more momentous
than any in all of Time,
she did not quail,
only asked
a simple, ‘How can this be?’
and gravely, courteously,
took to heart the angel’s reply,
the astounding ministry she was offered:
to bear in her womb
Infinite weight and lightness; to carry
in hidden, finite inwardness,
nine months of Eternity; to contain
in slender vase of being,
the sum of power –
in narrow flesh,
the sum of light.
Mary’s had to repeat her ‘yes’ to God’s invitation over and over again, as the implications of her initial ‘yes’ to the angel became clearer to her. Throughout her many moments of pain and puzzlement, when she did not understand what was happening in her life, she repeated and deepened that initial yes, until her final heart-wrenching ‘yes’ as she stood at the foot of the Cross, sharing in her Son’s unspeakable agony.
Mary not only accompanied her Son throughout his entire life, she also accompanied the first steps of the timid and fearful early Church, praying with the men and women her Son had called to form the community that would continue his mission on earth. And Mary continues to accompany and mother us, as we strive to say ‘yes’ to God in the circumstances of our time. Sometimes we, too, do not understand what God is doing in our lives. Like Mary, we are invited to ‘store up in our hearts’ what we do not understand, and strive to imitate her faith, her obedience and her courage. Let us pray: Lord, you invite us to respond to your call at every moment of our lives. Give us the courage to respond with generosity, and help us to echo Mary’s ‘Yes’ in all the circumstances of our lives.
Listen to an alternative audio Homily by Tom Casey, SMA: