Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

I hope you are all continuing to enjoy this beautiful, holy season.

For Catholics, today we celebrate Mary, the Holy Mother of God.  At the heart of the Church is the reality that Jesus was born of a human mother, whom God had prepared as the "Ark" to carry his son Jesus into the world.

Oddly, the role of Mary in salvation, as the one to bear the Savior, seems to cause division among Christians.  That is really unfortunate, as Mary is God's gift to all humankind.

But it is not so much Mary causing the division, but probably a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding.

God has given us Mary as our mother.  She, in her humanity and her closeness to Christ--her union with him--can easily identify with our struggles and assist us when we call upon her.

Mary knows the pain of her children (us); she stood by the cross of her son (Jesus) and accompanied him in his suffering.  As our mother, she shows us the joys and challenges of saying Yes! to God, no matter what he asks of us.

The day after Christmas, I said "Merry Christmas" to someone who looked at me kind of funny and said "Yes, yesterday."  But the reality is, we are still in the season of Christmas, which is a continued rejoicing in the hope that visited us at Christmas--Jesus.

If you believe in Jesus, by default, you believe in Mary.  The two cannot be separated. There is nothing in believing in Mary that should cause division among Christians.  Catholics do not believe she is God, nor do we worship her.

We trust in the power of God and believe that it is through his divine plan that Mary--pure and holy--was able to accept her role in the coming of Christ. In that, we honor Mary, our Immaculate Mother, for her willing acceptance and her continued love.

It was at the foot of the cross, at that most sacred moment when Jesus gave up his life for all of us, that he chose the perfect moment to give her to all of us.

To his mother, Jesus said, "Woman, behold, your son" and to his disciple he said, "Behold, your mother."

In this exchange we understand that Mary is mother to all, and we, in the image of the disciple, are all her children.

Never should Mary be a cause of division, but recognized as the loving gift of God to his children.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.com