Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary. For thousands of years our faith has recognized that some feasts are of a higher order than others. We use the word solemnity today to indicate the fact that the feast of the Motherhood of Mary, Mother of God, is of the highest rank for the entire Church. Easter Sunday is announced as the solemnity of solemnities, as it is the feast that has the highest rank over all other Sundays and feast days.
Today is a major solemnity. The Church teaches that Mary is the Mother of God, and that this is an article of faith that all Catholics must believe to be Catholic. We are Catholic if we believe that Jesus was born of Mary. We are Catholic if we believe Jesus is the Son of God. Mary is the Mother of God. This cannot be debated if you call yourself Catholic. We are Catholic because of what we believe.
We declare our beliefs in the Creed, when we say, “I believe in God, and that Jesus is God, and that God became man, taking his human flesh from the Virgin Mary. Mary bore God in her womb. Mary gave birth to her creator.
Jesus is both God and man. Without his mother, Mary, he could not be man. Mary is blessed among women, and blessed is the fruit of her womb.
Mary was the tabernacle of God because she carried God in her womb. We have a tabernacle near the altar, but it is simply a place to reserve the Blessed Sacrament until it is needed. However, all Blessed Sacrament is meant to be consumed by human believers. When you receive the Blessed Sacrament you become the Tabernacle of God, like Mary, because you bear God within you.
When you bear God within you, you have eternal life in you. That is Jesus’ promise. We become like Mary when we also become, like her, Tabernacles of her Son, Jesus. Today we celebrate Mary’s special motherhood.
Eve was the first woman. Eve shut all her children out of heaven by her disobedience to God. Mary is the second Eve. Like Eve, Mary was born without rebellion, without Original Sin, born to live forever with God. Mary did not rebel against God, but accepted Him and bore him in her womb. Mary is our mother, because through her we have all received eternal salvation. We become children of God and Tabernacles of God when we participate in the Sacraments that came to us through her, through her Son.
Thanks be to God.