Today as we celebrate a New Year, we look to Mary, the servant of the Lord and the Mother of God. Mary was part of God’s eternal plan which comes to fulfillment in the fullness of time as Paul describes it in today’s second reading: “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…” Not only is Mary part of God’s eternal plan but also you and I received the gift of adoption through Jesus Christ. How do we know that we are adopted children of God? The proof is how we address God in prayer:
“As proof that you are children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Galatians 4:6).
Every time we pray the Our Father, we address God as “Abba, Father.” This address is a bold move on our part that we do not take at our own initiative but at Jesus’ invitation: “At the Savior’s command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say: Our Father…” (Roman Missal)
This address is so important because it gives us our true identity in God’s eyes, we are children of God. Paul brings out the implications of this new identity: “So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.” (Galatians 4:7).
Today is the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. She put God’s will before her own will and is thus called the Mother of God. We too when, we put God’s will first, are called children of God. Our identity and destiny are tied up with Christ: “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” (Romans 8:16-17).
Image: “Mother of the Church” by Lawrence OP is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.