January 1: The Faithful Mother
♫ Music:
WEEK SIX
January 1 - January 7
The Feasts & Events of Christmastide (Part 2)
For centuries, January 1st has been set aside by the church as a day to think about Mary’s profound connection to the Incarnation. This feast celebrates Mary as the “God-bearer” a title attributed to her since the earliest days of Christendom. The fact that this feast occurs at the beginning of each new year reminds Christians that the Incarnation of Christ ushered in an entirely new age. On January 6th, Epiphany (Western Christianity) and Theophany (Eastern Christianity) commemorate the beginning of Christ’s outward facing life. In the Western tradition, the church emphasizes the revelation of Christ to the Gentiles via the arrival of the Magi. In the Eastern tradition, the baptism of Christ predominates with “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Epiphany/Theophany, the culmination of the Christmas season, encourages us to proclaim the Incarnation of Christ each day that we live through our thoughts, words and actions to all those we encounter.
The Feast of Mary the Mother of Christ
Born of a Woman
Galatians 4:4-7
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has 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 an heir through God.
Mary
by Malcolm Guite
You bore for me the One who came to bless
And bear for all and make the broken whole.
You heard His call and in your open ‘yes’
You spoke aloud for every living soul.
Oh gracious Lady, child of your own child,
Whose mother-love still calls the child in me,
Call me again, for I am lost, and wild
Waves surround me now. On this dark sea
Shine as a star and call me to the shore.
Open the door that all my sins would close
And hold me in your garden. Let me share
The prayer that folds the petals of the Rose.
Enfold me too in Love’s last mystery
And bring me to the One you bore for me.
THE FAITHFUL MOTHER
We are no more sinners and slaves struggling to satisfy the demands of the law without love or relation to our master. When the moment of God’s perfect action arrived, after the long years of waiting and prophesied hope of the Messiah, the Son was sent forth for our salvation. This salvation brings us into God’s own family. The undivided community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit has an entry place for us. Our hearts are indwelt by the Spirit to transform us into brothers and sisters of the Lord and honored children of the welcoming Father.
As Paul writes in his epistle, God’s “Son, born of a woman, born under the law” redeemed fallen humankind and enabled our adoption as God’s children. Undeniably crucial to this seismic shift in our condition is the woman who was chosen to bear the Son. Mary gave flesh to the baby Jesus as she accepted God’s call to bring the divine infant into the human race. Christ’s mother and her husband Joseph bore very difficult challenges and together created the day-to-day fabric of Jewish family life. Characterizing parents at their best in every generation, costly love, deep humility and persevering faith were of utmost importance for these parents who made the home for Emmanuel, God with us.
Consider how central to God’s saving action is the intimate nurture and bond of family! Personally, I am reminded of Advents past, spent as an expectant mom and how the experience drew me to consider Mary more fully. This year my daughter is carrying her first child. No words can adequately portray the wonder of having a unique new person taking form within your own body. Of course, as close as women may feel to her as mothers, we also face the impenetrability of all she pondered in her heart, as she watched her son fulfill his divine sacrificial purpose on earth.
Mary’s freely chosen sacrifice in saying Yes to God brought the Sacrifice, which takes away the sin of the world. Steve Bell, using words from Malcolm Guite’s poem explores in song the treasure and mystery of Mary’s relationship with her Son. In today’s painting of Mary embracing her infant son, the beauty of maternal love shines out. The customary portrayal of Mary in early Christian painting is with Christ, for it is her faithful obedience to God’s call as devoted mother and disciple which makes Salvation real and visible (Luke 2:30). A detail of the way the two are depicted is the golden halo around Christ’s head with a cross within, showing His divinity and destiny. The plain golden halo of Mary shows a person who reflects the light of her Creator and Redeemer. Mary’s closeness to God is more than what accompanies physical, natural motherhood. She is found to have a heart attuned to God and a willing spirit to accept His will in her life.
In the midst of Christ’s teaching, an incident is recorded in Luke 11:27-28 which prioritizes this quality. “As he (Jesus) said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!’ But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’" In Mary, both are true.
This Christmas season we have reflected on the expectant young virgin, who with Joseph journeyed to Bethlehem where the newborn Jesus came, with choirs of angels, adoration of shepherds and fulfillment of promise to God’s people. The family is paramount to God’s goodness and plan. Our own families and communities are foundational in revealing God’s loving presence in our world. Very good news is that when shortcomings, sin and loss damage the relationships with those closest, God invites each of us to come to Christ, to dwell in God’s family and to be restored in His love.
Prayer
Abba, Heavenly Father,
Such joy it is to be welcomed into your family. You have taught us to honor our fathers and mothers, and to show love and respect toward them. We give thanks to you for all family members, and loved ones. We thank you for the faithful Mother of Christ in her divinely appointed role, which brought our Savior in the flesh for our salvation. Bless our families who have encouraged us, with Your grace and strength. Protect them from evil, harm and sickness. Grant them faith, health and joy. Bless all their work that they may give You honor and glory all the days of their lives.
Amen
Beth Morlan Krammes
Biola Alumna, Cook School of Intercultural Studies
Madonna and Child
Vincenzo Foppa
Tempera, oil, and gold on wood
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
About the Artist and Artwork:
Vincenzo Foppa (c. 1430 – c. 1515) was a Northern-Italian painter and the founder of Renaissance painting in Milan, where he worked for royalty. In addition to major fresco cycles and altarpieces, he also painted touching images of the Madonna and Child for private devotion. This piece dates from about 1480 and shows the Madonna and Child before a rose hedge—the Madonna was sometimes referred to as the "rose without thorns.” The finely drawn hands and gray flesh tones are typical of Foppa’s work, as is the delicate modeling with gold.
About the Music #1:
“The Appointed Time”
Lyrics:
When the appointed time had come,
God sent forth His only begotten son.
Born of a woman,
Born under the law,
To deliver from the law
All the slaves.
That we might obtain our new
Status as adopted daughters and sons,
And the Spirit within us,
Christ, Abba Father.
About the Composer/Performer:
John Michael Talbot (b. 1954) is a major figure in the Christian music scene. His songs were among the first by a Catholic artist to gain acceptance by Protestant listeners. Talbot won the Dove Award for Worship Album of the Year, Light Eternal with producer and longtime friend, Phil Perkins. He is one of only nine artists to receive the President's Merit Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. In 1988 he was named the No.1 Christian Artist by Billboard. Today, Talbot is an active monk and minister, traveling over nine months per year throughout the world inspiring and renewing the faith of Christians of all denominations through sacred music, teaching, and motivational speaking.
www.johnmichaeltalbot.com
About the Music #2:
“Mary”
Lyrics:
You bore for me the One who came to bless,
And bear for all to make the broken whole.
You heard His call and in your open ‘yes’
You spoke aloud for every living soul.
Oh gracious Lady, child of your own child,
Whose mother-love still calls the child in me,
Call me again, for I am lost, and wild
Waves daunt me now on this dark sea.
Shine as a star and call me to the shore.
Open the door that all my sins would close,
And hold me in your garden. Let me share
The prayer that folds the petals of the Rose.
Enfold me too in Love’s last mystery,
And bring me to the One you bore for me.
About the Composer/Performer:
Steve Bell (b. 1960) has been called a “songwriter, storyteller, and troubadour for our time.” This Canadian musician uses artful word and song to encourage Christian faith and thoughtful living. Bell has been performing and touring since he was eight years old. Since Steve’s father was a prison chaplain, it was federal prisoners at Drumheller Penitentiary in Alberta who taught the young boy to play guitar. Mr. Bell has released 18 albums including two Christmas albums. In addition, Bell has earned numerous awards including two JUNO Awards and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
www. stevebell.com
About the Poet:
Malcolm Guite (b. 1957) is a poet, author, Anglican priest, teacher, and singer-songwriter based in Cambridge, England. He has published four collections of poetry: Saying the Names, The Magic Apple Tree, Sounding the Seasons: Poetry for the Christian Year, and The Singing Bowl. His writing has been acclaimed by Rowan Williams and Luci Shaw, and his Antiphons appeared in Penguin’s Best Spiritual Writing 2013. Guite’s theological works include What Do Christians Believe? and Faith, Hope, and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination. He is a scholar of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and the British poets and serves as Bye-Fellow and chaplain at Girton College at the University Cambridge, supervising students in English and Theology and lecturing widely in England and America. Guite plays in the Cambridge rock band Mystery Train, whose albums include The Green Man and Dancing through the Fire.
www.malcolmguite.wordpress.com