January 1, 2024
Mary,
Mother of God
Year B
The Son of God looks like all of us, he is made of our flesh, of our humanity And, thanks to him, every Son of Man can address God by calling him Daddy.
BORN OF A WOMAN
“Born of a woman” (Gal 4,4). This Pauline statement is the oldest testimony to the Mother of Jesus. Luke will later tell us that this woman was called Mary (cf. Lk 1.26). The Incarnation of God, an ineffable mystery, does not upset the laws of nature. By work of the Spirit (certainly a prodigious event), the Son of God becomes the son of man (a natural event). On this first day of the year, however, we would like to draw our readers’ attention to the French philosopher, J. P. Sartre, in a magisterial passage where he describes Mary’s first reactions before the child-God: “Mary becomes aware that the Christ is her Son, her son is God. She looks at him, and thinks: This God is my Son. This Divine Flesh is my flesh. He is made of me. He has my eyes. His mouth has the shape of mine. He looks like me. He is God, but he looks like me” Truly, the Son of God looks like all of us, he is made of our flesh, our humanity and, thanks to him, every son of man can address God by calling him Father: “God sent his Son… so that we might receive adoption as children. And that you are children is proven by the fact that God sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, who cries:Abba, Father!“(cf. Gal 4,5). The Christian does not therefore address God in an abstract way but speaks to a God who has the traits of fatherhood. Yes, we can and must address God with the familiar name: Abba,Daddy—because this is the profound meaning of this Aramaic name—and always do this, continuously. In fact, it is the sending of the Spirit that makes this invocation possible in us. This is expressed by Paul with the verb “sent”, the effect of this sending has an infinite duration (“shouts”). Professing that God became flesh in the womb of a woman, therefore, means recognising the extreme point of his love for us; a love that shows us our filial and therefore fraternal vocation. So, ask yourself, what is the greatest gift I have received at this New Year Season?
Only one is pure being carnal.
Only one is carnal being pure.
This is why the holy Virgin
it is the greatest blessing that has come upon all the earth.
Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)
Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey