Today we honor the greatest mother of the greatest Son: Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. She saw her Son’s moments of triumph and tragedy. Because her Son is no ordinary son, so is Mary a no ordinary mother. Her Son is God’s own Son. Thus, Mary is God’s own mother. Not that she gave divine personhood to her Son but that her Son favored her with divine motherhood. More than honor, but less than adoration, we venerate Mary, the Mother of God, today.
Great mothers have great memories. The Gospel today tells us that Mary kept all things in her heart and pondered on them. It is a very painful experience for anyone of us if our aging mother can no longer remember our names or the life we once shared with them. Motherhood and memories go perfectly together. Mothers are keepers, not only of family secrets but of family memories as well. They keep family memories not only by remembering them but also by reminding us of them whenever needed and, after reflecting on them, providing meaning and value to whatever we face in life as we grow.
Because motherhood and memories go together, mothers keep alive the family heritage and traditions. They do not only engage in periodic nostalgia about the past, but, most importantly, pass on to us the stories about our ancestors so that no matter how far we go and tall we grow, we remain rooted in our beginnings that tempers our pride but challenges our potentials to contribute our own part to a collective family history. Mothers do not only pass on life to us; they give us our memories.
Mothers give us our memories by both words and deeds. They give us our memories by telling and retelling our family history. But by every single kind word, by even the minutest token of affection, by each gesture of love, by the most silent presence and the loudest celebration ever in the family, mothers likewise give us our memories. These memories eventually become very deeply part of us that we may say we ourselves become our memories. Yesterday’s memories walk and talk today and continue to evolve in us.
Because the memories our mothers give us take on flesh and blood in us, they provide us bearing in our moments of triumph and strength in our moments of tragedy. They guide us in our confusion and help us leave our own good memories to our children and even our children’s children.
As another year begins, Mama Mary stands by our side. With her one hand, she holds our hands while the other points to her Son to remind us of our glorious heritage, which St. Paul describes thus, “God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba! (Father!)’” (Gal 4:6). So we are not slaves but sons and daughters; Thus, heirs of God’s kingdom.
It is very good to be reminded of our collective, glorious family heritage in Christ as another year begins because the humdrum of daily routine and the struggles of human survival may easily obscure our memory. It is fitting that we dedicate the first day of the year to the motherhood of Mary, for she, who once pondered in her heart the things told her by the shepherds in Bethlehem, reminds us today of the core message of Christmas: at the birth of Jesus, the soul felt its worth.
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