Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God [A]
January 1, 2023
Luke 2:16-21<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After eight days (octave) we ponder the mystery of our Savior\u2019s birth, we turn our eyes to the woman who gave birth to the Savior. Therefore, exactly on January 1, we celebrate the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. It is once again an opportunity to clarify some misconceptions about this important dogma, as well as to deepen our understanding on her motherhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The title mother of God for Mary does not mean that she is a god-mother who created other deities. Neither she is a goddess-wife of God the Father. The Church always teaches that Mary is not a god, but a human being. To understand better, we look closely the word \u2018mother\u2019. A mother is someone who has a person in her womb and eventually give birth to that person. Mary had the second person of the Trinity in her womb, and in due course, gave birth to Him. Thus, as simple logical conclusion, Mary is the mother of Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity. In short, Mary is the Mother of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, being a mother is not only about getting pregnant and giving birth. A true mother is a woman who also raises, nourishes and educates her children. Mary did not stop when she gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem. She did not leave Jesus on the manger and went away. She did not abandon baby Jesus to the Magi or to Herod\u2019s army. With Joseph, Mary protected, nurtured and \u2018made big\u2019 Jesus. In fact, Mary was faithful to follow Jesus to His cross and tomb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did Mary perceive her identity as a mother? We recognize that when Mary received Jesus in her womb, she was entering extremely perilous situations. She could lose her life because people may stone her, or Herod\u2019s soldiers may arrest and kill her. She endured the life of exile in Egypt, and had to contain with life of poverty. But, did she regret her decision?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer we can get from Mary\u2019s song, \u2018Magnificat\u2019. \u201cMy soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior\u2026 (Luk 1:46\u201347)\u201d In Hebrew language, the term \u2018my soul\u2019 or \u2018my spirit\u2019 is another way to say \u2018I\u2019. Thus, Mary said, \u201cI magnifies the Lord, and I rejoices in God my Savior.\u201d Interesting to note is the word \u2018magnify\u2019 or literally \u2018make big\u2019. What does it mean \u2018Mary makes big the Lord\u2019? The Greek word is \u2018\u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03b1\u03bb\u03cd\u03bd\u03c9 (- megaluno)\u2019 and it is related to Hebrew word \u2018\u05d2\u05bc\u05b8\u05d3\u05b7\u05dc\u2019 (- gadal) which means to become physically mature. Therefore, what Mary said is that she physically nourishes the Lord in her womb as well as to make sure the Lord grow into maturity. And in her role as a mother of the Lord, she rejoiced exceedingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary becomes an antithesis to modern toxic maternity. In our time, many separate sexualities with pro-creation, and even consider fertility as disease. Many see being a mother and having a child are unnecessary burden that must be avoided and disposed. Mary saw things the opposite way. Despite life-threatening situations, Mary accepted her motherhood as integral part of her identity as woman. She saw Jesus in her womb as great blessing, and her participation in God\u2019s will. She knew well only when she fulfilled God\u2019s plan, she found her true joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Happy Mothers\u2019 Day!
And
Happy New Year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rome
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God [A]
\nJanuary 1, 2023
\nLuke 2:16-21<\/p>\n
After eight days (octave) we ponder the mystery of our Savior\u2019s birth, we turn our eyes to the woman who gave birth to the Savior. Therefore, exactly on January 1, we celebrate the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. It is once again an opportunity to clarify some misconceptions about this important dogma, as well as to deepen our understanding on her motherhood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[57,58,67],"class_list":["post-11661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renungan","tag-english","tag-sunday-reflection","tag-valentinus-bayuhadi-ruseno"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11662,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11661\/revisions\/11662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}