Mother and Protector

Mothers protect their children; that’s what they do. It is not too hard to imagine Mary protecting the baby Jesus and then the child Jesus. She would have even sought to protect him in his adult life. Today’s feast, which would seem to be about Mary, is another example of Mary protecting her son…but this time in the realm of theology. To say that Mary is the “Mother of God” is not so much to say something about her, but to say something about Jesus. Namely, Jesus is God…always was…didn’t become God sometime after he was born.

Mary gave birth to a person who had two natures, one human and one divine. While Mary is not the origin of Jesus’ divine nature, when speaking of Jesus’ divine nature it is correct and necessary to say that Mary gave birth to God. To say anything less would be to say that Jesus was not God when he was born. May Mary continue to protect us during this new year, even in the realm of theology. May she lead us closer to Jesus her son.