Being a God-Bearer
Today is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. While there are several feasts in the liturgical calendar for Mary, this one focuses on a very special title: Mother of God. This title comes from the Greek word “Theotokos,” which besides meaning “Mother of God” can be more directly translated as “God-Bearer.” So today we celebrate Mary as the God-Bearer, the one whom God entrusted with...well, himself.
While Mary earned this title in a very special way, we are reminded that we are all called to be God-bearers in our own way. I think it’s important to remember that Mary and Joseph were not important by the standards of their own society. They were not chosen because of their social status or economic class or for any particular talents outside of being good people. In our Gospel reading for today we are reminded that the first people to welcome Jesus into the world were poor shepherds. They too were not important by the standards of society, but they were called to become God-bearers. They became God-bearers the moment that they took the joy that they were filled with being in the presence of Jesus and they spread that message.
“All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.”
As I begin this new year, I am doing what I always do: making new resolutions. I almost always create resolutions and I almost always break them, but I’m not giving up. I want to exercise more and be a healthier person. I want to read more so that I’m more knowledgeable about the world around me. I want to pray more and go deeper with my spirituality. I want prayer to be an immovable point in which my day revolves, not a moment that I try to squeeze in between tasks. As I look at these goals, it can be easy to get down on myself for what I haven’t done well in the past. It is at that moment that I remind myself of the people that God calls upon to bear himself in the world. I am reminded of poor shepherds that spread the news of Jesus. This leaves me with one more resolution:
I want to be a God-bearer.
Maybe if I look at each resolution, improving my body, my mind, and my soul, as ways in which I can be a God-bearer, then maybe that would give them the purpose that they need to become more than resolutions that could be given up in a few months. This is how I want to look to the new year.
How will you be a God-bearer this year?
Author: Tucker Redding, S.J., Advancement and Theology Departments
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