Texts taken from the Missal “On Your Word” January-February 2025

Mary Most Holy, Mother of God (s)
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FIRST READING

From the Book of Numbers (Nm 6:22-27)
The Lord spoke to Moses and said: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: ‘This is how you shall bless the Israelites: you shall say to them: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face toward you and grant you peace.’ Thus they shall invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.” – The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the first reading

On the first day of the year, the octave day of Christmas, the Liturgy celebrates the solemnity of Mary Most Holy, Mother of God, and presents the oldest and most solemn blessing formula in the Old Testament. Two terms open and close the formula: blessing (“May the Lord bless you”) and peace (“May the Lord grant you peace”). The first indicates God’s benevolent action toward the people; the second indicates the content of God’s gifts, namely, the fullness of happiness. Thus, on this first day of the year, the Liturgy places the entire calendar year under God’s blessing, that is, under his benevolence and goodness, and assures us of his peace. Not the peace that is often fashionable, that “leave me in peace,” but the peace that is Jesus himself: he is our peace, our joy, our strength. Over the course of the year, it will inevitably be necessary to encounter hardships, struggles, frailties, crises… but the believer knows that every day of the year, every moment of the year, is embraced by God’s blessing; he is in God’s company. It is up to us not to waste time complaining about what we do not have, but rather to live the time with gratitude, commitment, and passion, knowing that it is the time God gives us to do well the good we are called to do.

SECOND READING

From the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Galatians (Gal 4:4-7)
Brothers and sisters, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And that you are children is proved by the fact that God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying: “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child, then also an heir through God’s grace. – The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the second reading

With the expression “born of a woman,” the Liturgy allows us once again to savor the joy of Christmas and understand that it is precisely through Jesus that we have become “adopted children,” to such an extent that we can turn to God and call him “Abba, Father,” through the power of the same Spirit of Jesus whom we safeguard in our hearts today. To reinforce this truth of our sonship, it is enough to remember that Jesus, shortly before dying on the cross, gave us Mary as our mother and gave us to her as children! If in the first reading we emphasized how the calendar year was placed in God’s blessing embrace, in this reading we can say that the entire year is placed under Mary’s precious mantle, where everyone, absolutely everyone, can find refuge and comfort. In days when so many, far too many, anxiously seek through horoscopes or fortune-tellers to find out how the new year will turn out, the Liturgy reminds us that we are held in the palm of God’s hands and under the protection of Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother. 

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 2:16-21)
At that time, [the shepherds] went without delay and found Mary and Joseph and the child, lying in the manger. And after seeing him, they reported what had been told them about the child. All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. Mary, for her part, treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them. When the eight days prescribed for his circumcision were completed, he was given the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived in the womb. - The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

The first part of the Gospel reprises the passage we heard at the Christmas dawn Mass, the visit of the shepherds. They are the “outcasts” of their time who receive the first announcement and are the first to run to see this Event. A sign that anticipates and seals Jesus’ style: he did not come for the healthy, but for the sick; not for the righteous, but for sinners. Having heard and seen will enable the shepherds to leave the grotto and run joyfully to tell others what they experienced. The second scene presents the rite by which, on the eighth day, boys were circumcised: this is the sign by which Jesus could be identified as a son of Abraham, of the house of David. That “wound” would forever proclaim his Jewish identity. Gathering together the details presented, we can say that today we are invited to begin the new year by taking responsibility for our concrete and beautiful humanity, living it under God’s blessing and knowing how to begin again from the Virgin Mary, Mother.