And Mary Kept All These Things in Her Heart: Reflections on the Readings for the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

It is eight days since we celebrated the birth of Our Savior, Jesus Christ. When I was growing up, this Solemnity was the Circumcision of Our Lord, as Jewish males are circumcised on the eighth day after their birth. We see this in the reading from the gospel of Luke. It was changed to the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God in 1969.

The various readings from Christmas to today give us some insights into the Holy family, the early life of Jesus, and how we honor the Blessed Virgin who bore the savior (Emmanuel; God with us) as was foretold by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14); a blessing from God.

The first reading tells us how the Lord told Moses and Aaron the way to bless God’s people. The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace! And so God blessed us, His people, with His only Son, the Prince of Peace.

The blessing continues with the responsorial psalm: “May God bless us in His mercy.” As with the reading from Numbers, the psalmist asks, “may He let His face shine upon us.” The psalmist also notes that following the ways of the Lord leads to salvation, which we know comes through Jesus, the son of Mary. Notice also that it refers to “all nations” and not just Israel. As we recall from the gospel of St. John: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” The world encompasses all nations as does the term “everyone.” Dr. Peter Kreeft elaborates on this by saying, “This does not mean that only Christians can be saved. But it means that when anyone is saved, it is Christ who saves him. … Christians don’t claim to be the only ones who are saved. But they do claim that Jesus is the only Savior ...” Dr. Peter Kreeft, Because God is Real.

Our kinship with Jesus and therefore with God is brought out in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. “God sent his Son, born of a woman, ... so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Paul also referred to our adoption as sons to the Father in his letters to the Ephesians (1:5) and Romans (8:23). And not only are we now sons, but heirs which gives us the right to cry out, “Abba, Father!”

Having celebrated the birth of Our Lord and Savior and the Holy Family it is only fitting that we should devote a feast day (solemnity) to our Blessed Mother. Mary is a critical part of bringing Jesus to the world and also in Jesus’s ministry. As we read about the Visitation during the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Mary is the first evangelist as she brings Jesus to Elizabeth and John the Baptist.

Evangelizing means bringing Jesus to others. “…[T]he Church exists for nothing else but to draw man into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy missions, sermons, even the Bible itself are simply a waste of time.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. But Mary does more than this. After the message of the angels, the shepherds also find Jesus. “The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.” Those there are amazed as they learn what the angels said to the shepherds. “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

As we will learn in future readings throughout the Liturgical Year, Mary is the mediatrix between Jesus and the wedding couple (who represent the people) at Cana when she tells Jesus that the wine has run out. Jesus implies that He is not ready to “go public” by saying, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4). Nevertheless, Mary prompts the servants to “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5) thus initiating Jesus’s first miracle or sign, as John describes them, after which His ministry begins in earnest.

And both Mary and John come together again at the foot of the cross as Jesus was suffering: “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” (John 19:26-27) In this way Jesus gave His Blessed Mother to the Church.

And in Revelation, we again see Mary “clothed with the sun and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” symbolizing her role as the queen mother. In ancient times when kings often had more than one wife, the mother of the king had the role of queen (see also 1 Kings 1:11-16, 22; 2 Kings2:13-23; describing Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba, as the queen mother).

The Vatican II document, Lumen Gentium, speaks of Mary in this way: “... Mary who shines forth to the whole community of the elect as the model of virtues. Piously meditating on her and contemplating her in the light of the Word made man, the Church with reverence enters more intimately into the great mystery of the Incarnation and becomes more and more like her Spouse. For Mary, who since her entry into salvation history unites in herself and re-echoes the greatest teachings of the faith as she is proclaimed and venerated, calls the faithful to her Son and His sacrifice and to the love of the Father.” (LG 65)

“Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)