To start off by saying that Mary is the Mother of God as believed by the Catholic is doing disservice to, our lord Jesus and Mary herself and to the church. This assignation to her is so foreign to her and the Jews of her time. She would have been accused of blasphemy as her Son was and put to death.
Mary the Mother of God is a reflection of the Church down through the ages till our present time. It was a meditation of a people regarding the Son and then Mary the Mother. The honoring of Mary as the Mother of God can be traced back to the Council of Ephesus in 431. By the 7th century, January 1st was observedas a celebration of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the 13th century, the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ had come to replace the feast honoring Mary. However, in 1751, Pope Benedict XIV allowed Portugal’s churches to devote a feast to Mary on the first Sunday in May. This was because of a push in Portugal for an official feast day celebrating Mary’s divine maternity. Eventually, the feast was expanded to include other countries.
Mary could for all her title of honor could not be thought of independently of her Son our Lord Jesus Christ. It is only with deep devotion to her Son that one can easily flow to the truth of Mary was His mother. A deep devotion to the Son will introduce us to Mary as our mother as Jesus said to John: Behold they Mother. One has to be like John to be entrusted with our Lord’s own Mother. Those who are deeply in love with Christ will certainly be those to whom He could entrust his mother. Why would I entrust my mother to someone who does not love me and my mother. It was very difficult at Jesus’ time for widows. This was also the concern of scriptures of old: the widows and orphans. They are helpless without being entrusted to relatives. Mary needed a son after the passing away of her own Son. The savior was thoroughly obedient to the social nature of humans. This is to show that our faith is not based on myth but on the reality of human existence situated in a particular culture.
How does one become the adopted son of the Mother of God. One has to learn how to lie on the chest of Jesus as John did. This is the deepest intimacy with Jesus the Son of God, the son of Mary. In this leaning of the chest of Jesus one becomes privy to the sighs and deep longings of the heart of the only begotten son of God. It is not a case of a sentimental vicarious feelings of being in the inner circle of God the father god the son and god Holy spirt with Mary us the most favored one of God. It is not the height of contemplation. It is the height of imaginative, wishful thinking. The height of contemplation is to join the Father’s love, with the Son, with the life-giving Spirit with Mary in their ineffable love for humankind. To love all at with one’s life. It is a commitment that overcomes feelings. It is love that overcomes selfishness and even contemplation for the sake of the world. The world today sorely needs committed love for others. It is to see the fire burning in Jesus who wanted to share with humankind who God truly is according to his experience. He is the God who loves creation and all in it especially human beings unconditionally. To meditate on the life of her son and her own life with God is true devotion to Mary. Marian miracles are for those who do not believe. For those who believe, our joyful task is to hear Mary say to us: Do whatever he tells you. Then it makes sense to address Mary as the Mother of God. Mary like her son grew in wisdom and love for her son. That her son was God came in a pivotal point. When her son was on the cross, she heard him say into your hands I commend my spirit addressing God as his father, as an only begotten son. It reminded her offering of herself body and soul to God. When Jesus said: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Mary knew then that she was the Mother of God. She entered into the paschal mystery of her own Son. Mary found favor with God because it was the Father’s only begotten son that she bore.
Fr Carlos—Jan. 1, 2023