SOLEMNITY OF THE MOTHER OF
GOD 2018
YEAR OF THE CLERGY AND
CONSECRATED PERSONS
JANUARY 1, 2018
Jesus, I trust in you!
When 8 days were completed for his
circumcision, he was named Jesus…
Our obsession with the new civil
year usually deviates our attention from the liturgical significance of the 8th
day of Christmas. What do we really celebrate on this 8th day? The
Gospel tells us that on the 8th day, the Son of Mary was circumcised
and was given the name Jesus.
What is circumcision? It is the
cutting off of the foreskin of a boy’s reproductive organ. In the Jewish
religion, this ritual is the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. An
Israelite man bears in his body the permanent mark of his belonging not only to
the chosen people but also of his belonging to God. And this mark of the
covenant is found in the most intimate part of a man’s anatomy because his
relationship with God is the most intimate of all human relations. The cutting
off of the foreskin signified the purgation of sin. On account of the fragility
of our human nature and our inclination to sin, “the circumcision on the 8th
day prefigures the complete purgation of sin on the age of the resurrection.”
(Gregory Dippipo)
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| Born of a woman, born under the Law |
Even though Jesus was like us in
all things except in sin, nevertheless he subjected himself to the
circumcision. He was born of a woman and born under the law so that he may
redeem those who were enslaved by the law. His name means “God saves.” He is
God who saves us by taking up our human nature and by subjecting himself to the
law. In his human nature, God the Son received the permanent mark of belonging
to the Father. He had no sin. He is the unblemished Paschal Lamb who “ransoms
those under the law so that we may receive adoption as sons.” The blood he shed
in this circumcision is the “first blood” – the first of the blood that shall
be shed as a ransom for us from sin. His Blood buys us from the slavery of sin
so that he may adopt us as children for God. “As proof that you are sons, God
sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ So you
are no longer a slave but a son and if a son, then also an heir, through God.”
This is the newness that he brings
to us by his Incarnation. It is the newness of Divine Filiation. To those who
accept him, he gave the power to be sons of God. We gave him a Mother. He gave
us a Father. He assumed our humanity so that he may raise us into his Divinity.
And this is depth of the new covenant in his Blood. He received the ancient
mark of the circumcision so that you and I may receive the Holy Spirit’s
indelible mark, the character, at Baptism. Now, we do not need to be bodily
circumcised because we have received a spiritual circumcision when we were
baptized. It was not only a foreskin that was cut off. The Holy Spirit
abolished the misery of our fallen human nature by dwelling in us. We are no
longer poor. We are rich heirs of God. This inheritance that we received is the
Holy Spirit dwelling in us – the Spirit who enables us to call God: Abba!
We walk in this newness of
creation. The New Year reminds us of this newness – our newness as sons and
daughters of God. May we not hold on to our former slavery to sin. May we walk
in the newness of the freedom of the children of God. He loved the Mother we
gave him. May we love the Father he has given us.
O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee!
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