Mary, Mother of God: Bearer of God to the World

​Today we celebrate one of the oldest and most profound Marian feasts in the Church's calendar. Eight days after Christmas, as we begin a new year, the Church invites us to contemplate Mary under her most exalted title: Mother of God, Theotokos.

The word Theotokos literally means "God-bearer." It was formally proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, but the controversy surrounding it tells us everything we need to know about its power. Some wanted to call Mary merely Christotokos, "Christ-bearer," fearing that calling her Mother of God would somehow diminish Christ's divinity or elevate Mary beyond proper bounds.

But the Church fathers understood: what we say about Mary, we say about Jesus. To call her Theotokos is not primarily a statement about Mary's dignity, though it certainly honors her. It is a statement about the Incarnation itself. The child in her womb was not just a holy man whom God later adopted. He was, from the first moment of conception, fully God and fully man. Mary didn't give birth to a human nature; she gave birth to a person, and that person is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. 

Now here's where this ancient title becomes urgently relevant for us today, on this first day of a new year. If Mary is Theotokos, the God-bearer, then we are called to be the same. Through our baptism, we have been joined to Christ. Paul reminds us in the second reading that we are adopted children, able to cry out "Abba, Father!" We carry within us the same Holy Spirit that overshadowed Mary.

Mary's "yes" at the Annunciation made her the Theotokos. Our "amen" in daily life makes us God-bearers to a world desperately hungry for his presence.

We bear God to the world when we show mercy. In a culture of cancellation and condemnation, every act of forgiveness makes God visible. It can be in the workplace with a difficult coworker, forgiveness for someone who has hurt you, or gentleness with your own failures.
We bear God to the world when we speak truth with love. Mary didn't just silently ponder; when the time came, she spoke. At Cana, she said simply, "Do whatever he tells you." We live in a world not lacking in opinions but starving for wisdom, we bear Christ when we share his truth, not as a weapon to wound, but as bread to nourish.
We bear God to the world when we suffer with dignity. Mary stood at the foot of the cross; not raging against the darkness or fleeing from the horror. She stood. When we experience our own crosses: illness, loss, betrayal, failure and stand in faith rather than crumble in despair, we show a watching world that suffering is not the end of the story.
We bear God to the world simply by abiding with him. Mary "kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." The simple act of spending time in prayer, of sitting before the Blessed Sacrament, of reading Scripture with an open heart, is itself a radical witness in an age of relentless noise and distraction. We cannot give what we do not have. We cannot bear Christ to others if we have not first received him ourselves.

As we stand at the threshold of a new year, many of us start making resolutions. We promise ourselves we'll exercise more and lose weight, save money, read more books, waste less time. These aren't bad goals. But today's feast invites us to a more fundamental resolution: to become better God-bearers.

"The LORD bless you 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!"

Happy New Year

​Deacon Michel