The Church jubilantly starts the New Year by celebrating the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. This is the highest title which the Church ever given to Our Blessed Mother. It was the Council of Ephesus, in 431, which solemnly defined that Mary is truly the Mother of God because she gave birth to the Second Person of the Trinity who became man for our sake.
The so-called formula of union of the Council of Ephesus states explicitly: "We confess one Christ, one Son, one Lord. According to this understanding of the unconfused union, we confess the holy Virgin to be the Mother of God because God the Word took flesh and became man and from his very conception united to himself the temple he took from her (Formula of Union [A.D. 431]).
In his profound homily on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, of this year 2014, Pope Francis explained the close relationship between Mary, the Mother of the Church, and the believing community of her Son Jesus, the Church.
"Mary has always been present in the hearts, the piety and above all the pilgrimage of faith of the Christian people. 'The Church journeys through time... and on this journey she proceeds along the path already trodden by the Virgin Mary' (Redemptoris Mater, 2). Our journey of faith is the same as that of Mary, and so we feel that she is particularly close to us. As far as faith, the hinge of the Christian life, is concerned, the Mother of God shared our condition. She had to take the same path as ourselves, a path which is sometimes difficult and obscure. She had to advance in the 'pilgrimage of faith' (Lumen Gentium, 58)".
Mary is the first and perfect follower of her Son Jesus. She lived fully the demands Jesus put forward in Mark's Gospel. "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:34-35).
Because no other person ever lived literally and spiritually Jesus' call for discipleship other than Mary did, the Mother of God remains our point of reference, refuge and strength in our earthly journey towards the Heavenly Jerusalem.
That is why, in the same homily, Pope Francis taught us: "The Mother of the Redeemer goes before us and continually strengthens us in faith, in our vocation and in our mission. By her example of humility and openness to God's will she helps us to transmit our faith in a joyful proclamation of the Gospel to all, without reservation. In this way our mission will be fruitful, because it is modeled on the motherhood of Mary. To her let us entrust our journey of faith, the desires of our heart, our needs and the needs of the whole world, especially of those who hunger and thirst for justice and peace, and for God".
If Mary is my mother and guide because she leads me securely to her Son Jesus, in that she continually and gently reminds me: "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5), why not starting the New Year, 2015, by consecrating myself to her?
Let me joyfully share with you the consecration formula originally written by Saint Louis de Montfort.
Today, I, ..., a faithless sinner, renew in your hands my Baptismal vows; I renounce Satan forever, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, and will carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and will be more faithful to Him than I have ever been. With the entire heavenly court as my witness, I choose you this day for my Mother. I deliver and consecrate myself to you, my body and soul, myself, both interior and exterior, and the worth of my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to you the total right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, according to your wish, for the greater glory of God in time and in eternity.
Your life will be transformed under Mary's maternal care. Renew this consecration everyday!
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
PAOLA