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THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

Gospel Lk 2:16-21:

So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on 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 to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Preaching:

Today’s Gospel is a continuation of the passage read during the Midnight Mass. Beside the manger of Jesus, the shepherds again appear. Following the news received from heaven, they go to Bethlehem and find Joseph, Mary, and the baby in a manger. One notes that they do not find anything extraordinary. They see only a baby with his father and his mother. Nevertheless, from that weak being, needing help and protection, they recognize the Savior. They do not need extraordinary signs; they do not verify miracles and prodigies. The shepherds represent all the poor, the excluded that, almost by instinct, acknowledge in the baby of Bethlehem the Messiah from heaven. In that nativity scene, we see the shepherds simply observing—amazed in ecstasy—the marvelous work that God has done in their favor. Then they announced to others their joy and all were astonished at what they heard (v. 18).

In the first chapters of his Gospel, Luke often reveals the marvel and the immense joy of the persons who felt involved in the plan of God. Elizabeth, having discovered herself pregnant, repeats to all: “This for me is the Lord’s doing” (Lk 1:25). Simeon and prophetess Anna bless God who has granted them to see the salvation prepared for all the people (Lk 2:30-38); Mary and Joseph are also amazed and astonished (Lk 2:33,38). All of them have eyes and heart of a baby that accompanies with a glance each gesture of the father. He remains raptured by his gesture and smiles. He smiles because in all that the father does he catches a sign of his love. “For the Kingdom of God belong to such as these—Jesus says one day—and whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Mk 10:14-15). 

Luke’s gospel presents Mary as our sister who fulfilled a journey of faith, similar to ours. This Mary is not the object of our devotions wrapped in a cloud of privileges that in some cases made her admired or envied but not loved. The focus here is on faith and admiration as the plan of God was progressively getting revealed. “Mary treasured all these words, and pondered them in her heart” when she heard how the shepherds were informed of the birth of Jesus. Mary “gathered together all the facts,” bound them and captured the meaning and contemplated the realization of God’s plan.

Mary did not have a complete picture of the mission she had undertaken. She was progressively growing into that realization. She marvels at what Simeon said about the child. She is almost taken by surprise (Lk 2:33). She was amazed before God’s works, as were the apostles and all the people (Lk 9:43-45). She does not understand the words of her Son who chose to commit himself to the Father’s affairs (Lk 2:50) as the Twelve had difficulty in understanding the words of the Teacher: “They could make nothing of this; the meaning of these words remained a mystery to them, and they did not understand what he said” (Lk 18:34). Though Mary did not understand, she observed, meditated, reflected, and only after Easter (not before), did she come to understand everything; she would clearly see the meaning of what was unfolding through her mission. 

Luke presents her for the last time at the beginning of the book of the Acts of the Apostles. He puts her in her place among the community of believers: The apostles together gave themselves to constant prayer. “With them were some women and also Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers” (Acts 1:14). She was blessed because she believed (Lk 1:45). 

Today's Gospel concludes with the report on the circumcision. With this rite, Jesus officially enters to be part of the people of Israel. But this is not the principal reason for Luke to recall this fact. He is interested in another detail, the name given to the child, a name that was not chosen by the parents but was indicated directly from heaven.​ Keeping in mind this cultural context of Israel, we are able to understand the importance that Luke attributes to the name given to the child. He is called Jesus, which means “the Lord saves.” Matthew explains: he was called such because he will save his people from their sins (Mt 1:21).

When we enter into a relationship with a person, we learn the name of the person. When God enters into dialogue with us, he indicates his name and reveals his identity. Choosing the name of his Son, God said who he is—“He who saves.” He who does nothing but saves. In the Gospels, this name is repeated 566 times, almost to remind us that God’s images that are incompatible with this name must be deleted. Now we understand the reason why in the Old Testament God did not allow his name to be pronounced, because it is only in Jesus that he would have told us who he was. 

In Luke’s Gospel, it is interesting to note that those who called Jesus by name are not the just or the perfect, but only those who are marginalized, those who are at the mercy of the forces of evil. They are the possessed (Lk 4:34), the lepers: “Jesus, teacher, have mercy on us” (Lk 17:13), the blind: “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me” (Lk 18:38), and the criminal who dies on the cross beside him: “Jesus, remember me when you enter into your kingdom” (Lk 23:42). Peter would remind the religious leaders of his people: “No other name in fact under heaven is given to people, through whom they are saved” (Acts 4:12). 

证道：天主之母相信圣言，耶稣圣名拯救万民

今日的福音延续了圣诞节子夜弥撒中的福音。在婴孩耶稣的马槽旁边，牧羊人再次出现。他们 听从了来自天上的讯息，去白冷城找到若瑟、玛利亚和在马槽中的婴孩。有一点要注意，他们并没 有发现任何惊奇之事，只看到一个婴孩跟自己的父母在一起。然而，从那弱小的存在、需要帮助和 保护中，他们认出了救世主。他们并不需要令人惊奇的标记，也没有去核实奇迹的真假，也没有查 看耶稣是不是神童。牧羊人代表了所有的穷人和被排斥的人，他们几乎本能地承认白冷城山洞马槽 中的婴孩，就是来自天上的默西亚——救世主。在耶稣诞生的现场，我们只看到牧羊人，天主在他 们身上所行的奇妙之事，着实令人惊讶不已。然后，他们向其他人宣告他们的喜乐，让所有人都十 分震惊牧羊人的宣讲。

在路加福音第一章中，他通常启示出那些感到参与天主计划的人，所感受到的惊奇和巨大喜 乐。依撒伯尔发现自己怀孕时，对别人不断地说：“这为我是上主的眷顾”（路 1：25）。西默盎和先知亚纳蒙天主赐福，得以看到为所有人的救恩（路 2：30-38）；玛利亚和若瑟也感到惊奇和震 惊（路 2：33，38）。他们都有婴儿般的眼睛和心灵，注意着父亲手势的每一瞥。他仍旧因婴孩耶 稣的手势和微笑而欢天喜地。他微笑，是因为在父亲所做的一切之中，他抓住了父亲爱的标记。 “一天，耶稣说：‘天主的国属于这样的人，谁若不像个小孩一样接受天主的国，绝不能进去” （谷 10：14-15）。

路加的福音向我们展示圣母玛利亚与我们相似，作为我们的姐妹，她圆满完成了信德旅程。这 位玛利亚并不是我们的献身对象，也没有被各种特权所保护；某些情况下，特权会使她被人赞美和 羡慕，却不会被爱。这里要注意的是：信德和赞美是天主的计划，这计划会被逐渐显露出来。当她 得知牧羊人如何得知耶稣诞生的讯息时，“玛利亚珍视这些话语，并把这些话放在心中反复思 索”。玛利亚“汇集所有的事实”，加以总结，找到意义，对天主的计划深思领悟。

玛利亚对这份使命，并没有完全的了解。她对使命的认知，是逐渐成长的。她对西默盎关于这 孩子所说的话，感到惊奇不已，几乎是大吃一惊（路2：23）。玛利亚在天主的工程前感到惊讶， 却不甚明白，门徒和群众也是如此（路9：43-45）。她并不明白自己儿子现身于天父事业的话（路 2：50），十二宗徒也很难明白老师的话：“这些话他们一点也不懂，这话为他们是隐秘的；他所 说的事，他们也不明白”（路18：34）。尽管玛利亚不明白，但是她仍然遵守、默想、反省，并仅 在复活后（不是复活前）才开始明白所有的事情；她清楚的看到通过她的使命逐渐明朗的一切。 路加最后一次显示玛利亚，是在《宗徒大事录》的开头。路加将玛利亚放在了她自己的位置， 就是在信友团体中间：门徒们团聚一起，不断地祈祷。“宗徒们同一些妇女及耶稣的母亲玛利亚并 他的兄弟，都同心合意地专务祈祷”（宗 1：14）。她是有福的，因为她相信上主传于她的话必要 完成（路 1：45）。

今日福音最后是割损礼的事件。借着这仪式，耶稣正式成为以色列人的一份子。不过，这并不 是路加回想这个事件的主要理由。他的注意力是在另一个细节上，就是给孩子命名，而这名字并非 由父母所选，而是直接来自天上的。记住以色列的文化背景，我们就能明白路加把名字给予这孩子 的重要性。他名叫耶稣，意思是“上主拯救”。玛窦解释说：他被这样称呼，是因为他要把自己的 民族，由他们的罪恶中拯救出来（玛 1：21）。

当我们进入与一个人的关系时，我们才认识这个人的名字。当天主与我们对话时，祂显示自己 的名字，并启示自己的身份。选择天主儿子的名字，天主说他是“拯救者”。他什么都不做，只是 拯救。在福音中，这名字被重复了 566 次，几乎是在提醒我们：与天主的这个名字不相容的形象，都必须删除。现今，我们明白了：在旧约中，天主没有允许祂的名字被显明出来，因为只有借着耶 稣，天主才告诉我们祂是谁。

在路加福音中，有个很有趣的地方值得注意，就是那些呼求耶稣名字的人，都不是义人或完美 之人，反而只有那些被边缘化的人，即那些受到邪恶势力支配的人。他们是：附魔的人（路4： 34），癞病人说：“耶稣，老师，请仁慈待我”（路17：13），瞎子说：“耶稣，达味之子，请慈悲待我”（路18：38），钉死在耶稣右边的强盗说：“耶稣，请纪念我，当你进入你的王国”（路 23：42）。伯多禄提醒那些教会中的领袖说：“除他以外，无论凭谁，绝无救援，因为在天下人间，没有赐下别的名字，使我们赖以得救的”（宗4：12）。

文稿来源：雅颂福传