The Motherhood of Mary and the Circumcision of Jesus – Sermon by Father Levine

Fr. Joseph Levine; Holy Family Catholic Church and Missions, Burns, Oregon; January 1, 2026

The first day of the New Year, the Octave Day of Christmas, the Church now gives to the Holy Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is certainly good for us to entrust the beginnings of things to the one to whom God entrusted the beginning of his Son’s human life.

She is called the Mother of God because the man to whom she gave birth, Jesus Christ, is truly the Son of God, one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit. She is not the origin of his godhead, but she gave birth to God, in his human nature.

She was prepared for this role, as we were reminded on December 8, through her Immaculate Conception; it was that she might be a worthy dwelling for the Son of God, a worthy Mother tending the divine infant, that she was freed from all sin and filled with every grace.

Today’s celebration, on the Octave day of Christmas, however, brings an interesting juxtaposition of the commemoration of Mary’s motherhood and the circumcision of her Son, which as we heard in the Gospel, took place, in accord with the law of Moses, on the eighth day from his birth.

Through the rite of circumcision, the Jewish boy was made a member of the people, bound by the covenant, born under the law of Moses. The reason Jesus subjected himself to this rite – and even as an infant, unable to speak, he possessed the interior freedom to willingly subject himself to the ritual – was to ransom those under the law – not just those under the law of Moses, but all those who labored under the law inherited from Adam, the law of sin and death – so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Jesus would, of course, ransom us from the law of sin and death by shedding his blood on the Cross, offering himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The first shedding of his Blood took place at his circumcision, pointing ahead to his crucifixion.

Unlike anyone else, Jesus was born in order to die. We are all subject to death, from the time of our birth, but death is not the very purpose of our life in this world. We did not choose to be born and neither is death a matter of our choosing. The Son of God chose to be born among us as a man and he chose to do so in order that he could offer his human life as a sacrifice of expiation to the Father on our behalf. He was born as the Lamb of God.

This ties back to Mary’s maternity because it means that if the Son of God had not chosen to come into the world as the Lamb of God, the Virgin would not have become the Mother of God.

As Mother of God she touches, unlike any other created being, on the infinity of God. Yet, as Mother of God she is also bound up with his redemptive mission; she gave birth to the One who was born to die as the Lamb of God; she gave birth to the One who was to shed his Blood for our sins.

At the circumcision, she witnessed his first shedding of Blood, as he was given the name “Jesus”, which means “Savior”. As the Angel said to St. Joseph, You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Mt 1:21)

As the Virgin Mother of God, who kept all things pertaining to her Son, reflecting on them in her heart, she witnessed the shedding of the Precious Blood at the circumcision and was thereby prepared to witness the final shedding of Blood upon the Cross; she was prepared also to witness the final shedding of Blood that will take place after his death, when the soldier pierced his side with a lance. (cf. Jn 19:32-35) She is prepared to stand as witness of the Crucifixion and collaborator in the work of Redemption, uniting her will with the sacrificial will of her Son, offering herself through, with, and him, for our salvation.

The Mother of God is the one who gives us God. She gives us God, the Son, her Son, Jesus Christ. She gives him to us in his birth as a man; she also gives him to us in his death on the Cross. She gives him to us as our Savior and Redeemer. She gives to us the Lamb of God, who makes peace through the Blood of his Cross. (cf. Col 1:20) She collaborates in his work of redemption, and teaches us how to collaborate, as she taught St. John how to stand with her at the foot of the Cross. She teaches us the way of peace, the way to true life, the life of the children of God, eternal life with the eternal God. The Mother of God touches upon the infinity of God.

We entrust to her the beginning, and we entrust to her the end.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.”