Today the Church’s liturgy celebrates three feasts in one.  The first is what the ancient Roman liturgy called the “The Octave of the Lord,” essentially another opportunity to circle back to the joy and meaning of Christmas and the great mystery of the Incarnation of Our Lord in the flesh: many elements of this Mass are taken from the Masses of Christmas and the Masses of the days intervening between Christmas and today’s feast.  The joy and mystery of Christmas cannot be contained within a single day, but the light of that sacred night bursts forth into an eight-day octave of celebration, even beyond that in the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany, and indeed in the entire season spanning much of January up until the Feast of the Lord’s baptism, and beyond, as, in a few subtle ways, the Church keeps circling back to Christmas all the way until the Feast of the Presentation on February 2nd.  So we continue to honor, revere, and rejoice in the Lord coming among us, dwelling with us, reaching us in this most incredible way. 

Other parts of the Mass celebrate the divine motherhood of Mary: Our Lady as the Mother of God.  This is fundamentally a recognition of how profoundly Christ has united humanity and divinity together: he is fully God and fully man.  Not 50% of each, not some strange minotaur-like monster where the top half of him is God and the bottom half man or something like that.  He is 100% of each, fully and truly God, fully and truly man.  Therefore Mary is not just the Mother of Jesus’ human body.  He can’t be split up like that.  He is a fully integrated person, with a true human nature and a true divine nature united in his single person.  And Mary is truly the mother of his person, his whole person.  He is God; she is his mother.  She is the Mother of God.  And we rejoice in that as well. 

The third thematic element of today’s feast is that of the Circumcision, which has been celebrated since the sixth century.  Eight days after his birth, Christ underwent this rite, like all Jews, this ritual enjoined on Abraham by God as a pledge of his faith.  At this point, the child officially and ceremonially receives the name, Jesus.  “Jesus” means “God saves.”  We see in the very name of Lord, what his mission on earth will be.  And that saving mission begins already, in this moment.  Every drop of Christ’s blood is sacred.  A single drop of his blood is sufficient for our salvation.  In his circumcision, he sheds those first sacred drops.  Our Lord sets out already on his work as Redeemer.  This was his first act of bloodshed, but it will not be his last: the gift of his lifeblood would reach the apex of generosity in his Passion and Death, when he showed us the depth of his love, when he loved us all the way to the end of all things.  The bestowal of Jesus’ name upon him is a moment of the highest meaning: it is an affirmation of his mission as Savior of the world.  And for Our Lady, it is a moment also for her, an affirmation of her role as Mother of God and Our Mother too.  We dedicate our new year to the immaculate mother of God, who suffered with her son, and who protects and prays for us always.  “Mary treasured all of these things, pondering them in her heart.”  May we do the same, both today on the last day of the Christmas Octave, throughout the rest of this sacred season, and all of our lives long.  Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God, help us and pray for us, now and always, amen.