1 January, Thursday — A model of faith

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 2:1-14

As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.

We begin the year of 2026 by celebrating the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, in our lives. There will be others who celebrate with parties and get-togethers to celebrate the start of the new year. There are wishes and desires for better outcomes in one’s emotional, professional, financial and physical lives. However, the Church reminds us that the start of the secular new year should be grounded in Mary’s life as a model of faith to our spiritual lives, which are clearly more important compared to the other four aspects mentioned earlier.

Life often presents us with many challenges — e.g. sickness, loss of jobs or even emotional turmoil; and very often, there is a struggle to make sense of these episodes. Sometimes, God gets blamed for bringing to us these bad things in our lives yet, perhaps a response stemming from our faith would be much better. A faith grounded in love and prayer will give us the suitable response to deal with the challenges put forth before us. Mary was presented with challenges that are not abstract but real existential struggles, i.e. having to give birth in a foreign city and, as a new mother, to become a refugee in another country. These struggles would often break certain individuals, but it was through Mary’s faith in God which allowed her to bear the heavy responsbility of being the Mother of Jesus.

Each of us has our own struggles which others may not be able to understand, and for which we see no need for any explanation. Yet there is no need to suffer in silence, or alone, as we can ask our Lady to grant us the same fortitude which she had in facing the challenges in her life. 2026 will bring forth its own sets of joys and sadness but in each of them, we can always turn to Mary and ask her to show us the way towards Jesus, who will bless us and keep us.

Blessed New Year to you, my dear reader.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Nicholas Chia)

Prayer: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks for all who promote the love of Mary.