9781644135945

The Light of the World
A.D.), which proclaimed that Mary had given birth to Jesus, who was, at one and the same
time, God and man, having two natures but one person. God does not live in Him merely as in
a temple, but the man Jesus is at the same time God. Mary is mother, not only of the humanity
of Christ, but of the Son of God also. She is the Mother of God. The people of Ephesus awaited
the decision of the council with breathless expectation. When the doors of the council hall were
opened and the decision was made known, the people greeted the Fathers with great rejoicing
and accompanied them to their dwellings with flaming torches, crying out: “Mary is the bearer
of God; Mary is the Mother of God.” Today, more than fifteen hundred years later, we make
the same joyful confession.
Mary is the mother of Jesus, the Son of God. The Gospel recounts an incident of His childhood
during which He first refers to His divine origin. When Jesus was twelve years old, Joseph and
Mary went to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice. “When they returned, the child Jesus remained in
Jerusalem, and His parents knew it not.” They believed Him to be in the company of relatives.
But they were mistaken. After a long and anxious search they found Him in the temple, sitting
among the doctors of the law. “And His mother said to Him: Son, why hast Thou done so to
us? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing.” This rebuke shows the concern of a
mother who has borne suffering with love. But Jesus meekly answers: “Did you not know that
I must be about My Father’s business?” He refers to His heavenly Father, for He is Son of God.
He was conceived, not by the power of man, but by the power of God (Offertory). When the
angel had first brought the message to Mary, she had answered, “Behold the handmaid of the
Lord; be it done to me according to thy word” (Lk 1:38). And at her word, the only-begotten
Son of God was made flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mother. We pay tribute to this mystery
at the Communion, when we confess, “Blessed is the womb of the Virgin Mary, which bore the
Son of the eternal Father.” Blessed art thou, O holy Mother of God, who wert united to the Son
of God in a most intimate union when thou didst bear Him in thy womb.
Mary provided the body for the Son of God, and in return Christ filled the soul of Mary
with the fullness of His spirit. Mary became wholly absorbed in Him and became like Him.
She became united to Him in a most intimate union. “Alleluia, alleluia. Virgin Mother of God,
He whom the whole world cannot contain, enclosed Himself in thy womb, being made man,
Alleluia.” “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and
blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”
“As the vine, I have brought forth a pleasant odor, and my flowers are the fruit of honor
and riches” (Epistle). The blossoms on this vine are the precious virtues of faith and humility
which the Virgin exhibited when she received the message of the angel. She was resolute in
her attachment to her virginity: “I know not man” (Lk 1:34). Yet she is obedient to the will of
God and speaks her fiat: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy
word” (Lk 1:38). “My flowers are the fruit of honor and riches,” Christ the Lord. “There shall
come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse,” Mary, who is sprung from the house of David; “and a
flower shall rise up out of his root,” Christ, the Son of Mary (Gradual). Humanity and divinity
are united in this one person. “Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my
fruits” (Epistle). Mary does not keep her child for herself; she bequeathes Him to us when He
is born at Bethlehem, when He is offered in the temple, and when He offers Himself up on
the cross. She gives Him to us again daily in Holy Communion. Mary has borne Christ for us.
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