Who Am I That the Mother of My Lord Comes to Me?

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • Phoenix, AZ

Did you ever stop to think how special it is that the Church celebrates the most solemn Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the very first day of the New Year? It seems to me that this is a great gift to the Church and to the world that each calendar year is begun with the solemn celebration of Mary, the Mother of God! 

While the world is raucously ringing in the new year with a mixture of joy and trepidation, hoping for a prosperous year while wondering what it will actually bring, we Catholics celebrate alongside the world with these same concerns, but there is an added joy and peace that the world cannot give. 

If we reflect on the meaning of this feast day, we can share the abundant joy that Elizabeth, Mary’s elderly kinswoman, experienced at the visit of her young, pregnant cousin! “Who am I that the Mother of my Lord comes to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed are you who have believed that what the Lord spoke to you would be fulfilled.” Just as when Mary presented herself in the house of Zacharia and greeted her cousin, the Church presents Mary, the Mother of God, to us on this feast day! 

The Holy Spirit Himself enabled Elizabeth to know that Mary was with child – having conceived by the power of God with her consent at the conclusion of the Annunciation during which time Mary learned of Elizabeth’s six month old miraculous pregnancy. Part of the meaning of this solemnity for us Catholics in 2022 is that Mary, the Mother of our Lord and God, has come to us and is present with us as our loving Mother at the very beginning of this new year! The opening prayer of the Mass captures the hope for all of us and for the whole human race.

“O God, who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary bestow on the human race the grace of eternal salvation, grant, we pray, that we may experience the intercession of her, through whom we were found worthy to receive the author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.”

A Blessed and Peaceful New Year 2022 to all our readers and supporters!