Happy New Year 2026

 

The Mother of God and Man

 

This corruptible body must put on an incorruptible body (A)

 

Today, the Church gratefully reflects on the Virgin’s maternity as a model of her own motherhood to all of us. At the Council of Ephesus (451), the mother of Jesus was solemnly proclaimed as Mother of God or Theotokos, acknowledging the Godhead of her Son, Jesus Christ. Under this noble title, she is still honored by most Christians around the world. Benedict XVI said, “Jesus is the Son of God, and at the same time he is the son of a woman, Mary. He comes from her. He is of God and of Mary. She trusted in Providence and was sustained by God’s goodness. Indeed, she stands out among the Lord’s anawim, the humble hearts who confidently trust that God has everything in hand (Lumen Gentium 55). St Augustine writes, “She conceived Jesus in her heart before conceiving him in her womb.”

 

Today’s feast invites us to place our hopes and plans for the new year under her motherly care. We can entrust to her our personal concerns and those of our era, the conflicts, the glaring injustices, the unequal wealth and opportunity, the wars, all that troubles peace and fairness in our world at this time. Our Lady can be our guide and counsellor in our spiritual journey. She wants to beget faith in us, to be our Mother. That is why, in the gospel of John, she is present at the beginning and the end of Christ’s public life.

 

John is the only one to record Mary’s presence at Calvary: “Near the cross of Jesus stood his Mother” (Jn 19:25). When all the miracles of Jesus seemed a delusion to many, his mother stood there faithful to him to his last breath, still believing in God’s power to save. Her faith did not need astounding miracles, but rested on childlike trust in the mysterious ways of God our Father. As John writes, “Behold your Mother” (Jn 19:25), the mother of Jesus will henceforth be the mother of all his disciples, sharing with us her strong and simple faith. She reflected upon, “He is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected” (Lk 2:34)  

 

She treasured and pondered what the shepherds said to her, “Today a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Today, New Year’s Day, is a day when many feel drawn to make good resolutions. What better New Year’s resolution could we make today than that of adopting Mary’s stance before the grace of God? Today’s feast invites us to share in Mary’s sense of awe and wonder before God’s merciful love, made known to us in Christ, her son. Let us ask Mary to help us treasure the gospel as she did, so that Christ might come to others through us as he came to us through Mary.

 

“All men will be called her children: the Most High himself has established her”