Following is the prepared text from Bishop Olmsted’s homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

Holy Mary, Mother of God

January 1, 2021

“Hail, Holy Mother, who gave birth to the King who rules heaven and earth for ever.”

With gladness, we celebrate today the motherhood of Mary. The Virgin Mary was blessed by God in many ways. She was conceived without sin and preserved without fault all her life; truly she is “full of grace.” At the moment that Mary fell asleep in death, she was assumed body and soul into heaven. She was crowned Queen of heaven and earth. She is, as Elizabeth said, “blessed among women.” Even Mary herself said: “All generations shall call me blessed; for He who is mighty has done great things for me. And holy is His Name.” Our Lady recognized that her motherhood was a great blessing from the Lord.

It is not surprising then that many artists represent Mary with the Child Jesus in her arms. For that is truly a great honor. It is also our greatest hope, for Mary holds in her arms the Savior of the world, who takes away the sins of all mankind.

Mary’s motherhood made it possible for many of God’s blessings to come to us – such as those mentioned in our First Reading (Numbers 6:24f): “The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!” Now, in Mary’s Son, God’s face shines upon us. God’s personal love is made visible. Mary gave a body to God’s beloved son; and at the Last Supper, Jesus gave us His Body and Blood in the gift of the Eucharist.

Through Mary’s motherhood, God physically entered human history. He became a visible part of the real world. A few years ago, Jennifer Morse wrote the following about motherhood,

“When I needed to stay home with my children, I knew for sure that I was going to be completely severed from the real world. After all, the real world is out there somewhere, the world of jobs and money and competition and struggle… Nevertheless… after lots of ordinary mom stuff, it dawned on me: ‘This is the real world… The real world is at home. This is where people are born and grow up. At home, people get sick and get better. Home is where people love, where they fight, where the kiss and make up and love some more, and ultimately where they die. There really is no world as real as home.”

The reality of God’s personal love is made tangible and visible through Mary’s motherhood. When St. Paul tells us in Galatians (4:4ff), “God sent His Son, born of a woman…” he’s talking about Jesus entering the real world you and I know, a world that He entered through Mary.

So, today, we praise God for Mary’s motherhood, which made possible the gift of His only Son. We thank Jesus for receiving the gift of his body from Mary and for handing it over to us through the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist. And as we thank God for Mary’s motherhood, we thank Him, too, for all Moms, who make possible many of the most tangible expressions of the love of God.