The Octave Day of Christmas Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

 Lectionary: 18

When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,  
born of a woman, born under the law,  
to ransom those under the law,  
so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Chronologically, the above verse is the first direct reference to Mary in the writings of the New Testament. Biblical scholars, Catholic and mainline Protestant, agree that Saint Paul's Letter to the Galatians appeared well before the four Gospels. The Evangelists Saints Matthew and Luke would "flesh out" the story of Jesus's birth as a human being, but there was never any doubt about his being a "son of man," as he called himself. 

Later heresies, trying to avoid the challenges of the gospel, would say that a god has walked among us, looking like a man. Or he was a man but is now revealed as God. They were not prepared to let God be as close as another human being -- a spouse, child, or parent -- might be. They would not want God to "know" their human experience with all its disappointment, frailty, and carnal pleasure. 

They really hated the idea that God would be subject to human laws, customs, expectation, and traditions. He should be above all that, just as they thought themselves superior to all that. 

Much of the New Testament is well aware of that heretical reluctance, that fearfulness of who Jesus is. The divine authors insist upon his human as well as his divine nature. 

Some modern skeptics say if he were truly human he would be the biological son of Joseph and not born of a virgin. But they miss the impact of Saint Paul's insistence that Jesus was "born of a woman, born under the law." The Church settled the question of his humanity with that doctrine and the faithful accept it to this day. 

In the fourth century, when the doctrine of Jesus's humanity was challenged by the Arians, with the backing of the Roman emperor, the assembled bishops at Nicea honored Mary with the title of Theotokos. She is the "God bearer," the "Mother of God."

There is in that word a deep and essential mystery. It is an oral icon, a sound which insists that we should be still, hear, listen, and permit it to saturate our mind, heart, attitudes, thoughts, and behavior. Having heard that word our lives can never be the same, for we know the Lord both in his human and divine nature. 

As we enter this new year, we should remember also that the Emperor Constantine was not pleased by the bishops. By some accounts, they wrapped up the business quickly after that decision, and got out of town. Many of them, already scarred by government torturers, wanted no more encounters with the empire's officers. 

But the doctrine is essential to our salvation. Those who deny or despise the humanity of Jesus and his birth by a woman, cannot fully embrace their human frailty or their divine calling. They deny all guilt for their sin and despise the full dimensions of salvation. They might want to "go to heaven," but they intend to take certain secrets with them. 

By his human flesh, "born of a woman, born under the law," Jesus shows us the way of salvation. We need not climb a mountain or tread the sea bottom, we have only to embrace our common humanity as God has done, in all its dimensions and mystery.