1 Jan – Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God
The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God is celebrated on Jan 1, the Octave Day of Christmas (i.e. 8th day after Christmas). It is a celebration of Mary’s motherhood of Jesus. The title ‘Mother of God’ is a western derivation from the Greek term ‘theotokos’, the God-bearer.
The term ‘theotokos’ was adopted at the Council of Ephesus as a way to assert the divinity of Christ, from which it follows that what is declared of Christ is declared of God. So, if Mary is the mother of Jesus, she is the Mother of God. Therefore, the title ‘Mother of God’ and the ‘Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God’, which celebrates her under this title, are at once Mariological and Christological.
- Wikipedia
Num 6:22-27
Gal 4:4-7
Lk 2:16-21
[S]he treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.
For some people, the start of a new year is a situation where they enter with a very bad hangover from the partying of yesterday. However, the church invites us to enter the New Year with a blessing. A beautiful way is for us to enter into the New Year under the protective mantle of our Blessed Mother. Every year brings about its own uncertainty and challenges; indeed perhaps 2025 will be one which is more difficult, because of the various uncertainties introduced. Yet, amidst all these struggles, we could always invoke the blessing of our Blessed Mother upon us.
Mary shows us how to handle the joys and sorrows in life. She received news of great joy from the angels and shepherds and she treasured these things. This is an example of how we should take all the things we have encountered in our lives to prayer. Prayer allows us to be constantly in touch with God and for us to make sense of the struggles which we have encountered in our lives. There may be things in our lives which we are not aware of how to handle — e.g. illness, death, separation and even stress at work. The ways of the world do not provide us with the clarity on how to navigate these. It is in times like this which prayer could offer to us the solace we need.
Constant prayer allows us to experience the richness of God’s mercy to us. St Paul shares with us in the second reading that it allows us to call out, “Abba, Father” which shows to us a God who understands the struggles we face. God has given us a wonderful Mother as a role model. She went through all the challenges which we went through — heartbreak, joy, separation and even being a refugee, as she was persecuted. All these allow us to have confidence that she will come out to console us from the struggles of our lives. As we enter into the New Year, let us ask Mary to show us the way we should behave through prayer and deed.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Nicholas Chia)
Prayer: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
Thanksgiving: We give thanks for all the people who have showed us their love.
OXYGEN 
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