Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Daily Missal January-February 2024

Mary, Most Holy Mother of God (feast)
proper

FIRST READING

From the Book of Numbers (Nm 6:22-27)
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: ‘Thus you shall bless the Israelites: you shall say to them: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. 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 God.

Commentary on the first reading

The year begins with the Mosaic blessing. Since this blessing comes from the lips of God, we must consider it the best of all, the most inspired and effective. But what does it mean to bless? It is the act through which the Lord’s benevolence is poured out upon us, who are always so fearful and uncertain in the face of life’s various situations. We need to be reassured and strengthened, because when someone blesses us (speaks well of us), we feel welcomed and loved… and love is always a necessary nourishment in our lives. All the more so when the one blessing us is God himself. It is the devil who curses; God blesses and consoles. With God’s blessing we can walk on scorpions and drink poisons, and be comforted even when we receive humiliations and biting words from others. Let us therefore often go to the places where this blessing is safeguarded, places where people pray, where priests lay their hands in God’s name upon our lives and our belongings; let us often receive God’s blessing with faith, so that we may be strengthened along the paths of life. 

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 sons. And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then also an heir through God. – The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

No longer being slaves but sons and daughters is the great news of Christianity. We are slaves when we prefer the secure things that give us immediate satisfaction, while paying the price of giving up our freedom of thought and bowing our heads to those who want to be worshiped in God’s place. The Hebrews in Egypt ate onions and cucumbers and had their own homes, but they had to work hard at the Egyptians’ orders and had no rights at all, not even the right to live out their religious worship peacefully. When God led them out into the desert toward freedom, they regretted Egypt, where they “at least” ate and drank. It is difficult to be free! Everyone wants it, but true freedom belongs to the children of God, who recognize God as the Good of their lives and, by loving him, free themselves from all other forms of slavery. In God we are free from society’s conditioning, independent of others’ approval, sovereignly above public opinion and compromises. Jesus told us: the truth will set you free. By ardently loving Christ, we will experience true exhilaration, the exhilaration of freedom.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 2:16-21)
At that time, [the shepherds] went in haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. After seeing him, they made known what had been told them about the child. All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. Mary, for her part, kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. Then 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 were completed for his circumcision, he was given the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived in the womb. – The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

This is the first time Mary appears to everyone as a mother. The first people to see Jesus in the Virgin’s arms were simple shepherds. The relationship between Mary and Jesus is fundamental to understanding the mystery of the divine Incarnation. We should note an interesting fact: in the world of official theology, thought, and philosophy, in the academic courses of theological faculties, Our Lady is practically absent. In the world of sacred images, however, paintings of Mary Most Holy holding baby Jesus abound; from the earliest centuries, the people of God have venerated images of the Virgin Mother of God, and there is no Italian town or city where there are not wayside shrines with paintings of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. What is withheld from the understanding of the wise is continually shown to our eyes. The heart has reasons that the mind cannot understand. In the end, this continues the shepherds’ first vision: they “fill” their hearts through what they see and, in fact, return “glorifying and praising God.” The new year begins for us with the same vision: Mary embracing Jesus, loving him, welcoming him, adoring him, and inviting us to do the same.