Christmas Day - Peter Tierney

“Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.”

Mary the mother of Jesus; Mary the mother of God, on the night of his birth received the glad tidings spoken by angels and given to humble shepherds: “to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Mary embraced those wondrous words, those heavenly words that signaled the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: ‘For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Mary heard these words about her newborn son, her miraculous son, born far from home in a strange town—in a lonely cattle shed—and she believed. Mary took all these words, she treasured them and she pondered them in her heart, and she adored her Son, the Lord.

These words are trustworthy and true: A child has been born for us; a son has been given to us, and he is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. But before he was born for us, he was born by Mary; before he was given to us, he was given to her. And here we behold one of the greatest Christmas mysteries: Jesus, the Son of God, God the Son, is born of a woman—is born of this woman: Mary. Jesus, the savior of the world, the glorious Prince of Peace, would not, could not, be who he is without her, without Mary his mother. His whole humanity comes from her—surely he resembled her, surely the neighbors were always saying, “Doesn’t little Jesus look so much like his mother?” It was Mary and Joseph who raised Jesus in their Jewish faith, who taught him the scriptures and fostered his great love for his heavenly Father, the God of Israel. It was Mary who fed him and clothed him, Mary who provided for him and raised him to be the man we know in the Gospels. We are all products of our parents and our upbringing, and Jesus is no different. Without his mother Mary raising and guiding him, Jesus would have been a wholly different person, and a wholly different person would not be the savior that we know, the Messiah we have been promised.

This is one of the glorious mysteries of Christmas, that from before the foundation of the world God the Father knew that Mary would be the one to bring Jesus into the world, God the Son knew that Mary would be his mother, and God the Holy Spirit knew that she would freely say “yes,” with all her heart, to God’s plan for the world’s salvation. Everything depended on Mary’s “yes,” everything we know about Jesus and what he has done for us depended on his mother saying “yes” to his birth. And that is the foundation of the good news that the angels announced to the shepherds on that first Christmas night: Christ is born of Mary, her great “yes” has borne the fruit of salvation, unto us a child is born, wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger. The shepherds rushed to see the holy child and the holy family, and they shared their vision with Joseph and Mary. But later, in the morning, those shepherds went their own way, and Jesus was left with his parents: the beginning of thirty quiet years that we know almost nothing about—thirty years with his mother helping him become the man he needed to be. But Mary never forgot that holy night and the words brought to her by those shepherds—she treasured all those words and pondered them in her heart. And her heart, filled with love and God’s promise, her heart helped guide the heart of her son.

Mary is the Mother of God, the mother of Jesus, but she is also our mother: the mother of our faith because she was the first to believe in Jesus, the first to say “yes” to him in faith and love. Mary is Jesus’ first disciple, the first one to adore the Christ Child and the first person to follow her Son, even as she led him through his early years. Mary is the first one to dedicate her life to his life. She never wavered in her faith; she stayed by Christ’s side throughout his life, never stifling him but always letting his light shine. And if we are made children of God through faith in the Son of God, then that same faith makes us children of Jesus’ mother as well, children of faith. Mary is our model for devotion to Jesus Christ; like her, we are asked to dedicate our lives to him, and to receive the blessings of grace, peace, salvation and heavenly joy that he was born to bring. This Christmas, we recall the angelic hymn proclaimed to the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those whom he favors!” God’s glory and God’s peace comes to us in Jesus Christ, and like his mother Mary, we can treasure these truths and ponder them in our hearts every day of our lives. And as we do, as we become more like her in our devotion, the closer we will be to her beautiful Son, Jesus the Christ, the beloved Child of God our Father in heaven, our saviour and redeemer. May we always be like Mary, saying “yes” to Christ our Lord, always letting him be born anew in our hearts. May his light shine on you Christmas, and every day in the new year that is coming. Merry, Merry Christmas.