First, it’s important to note that our beloved Holy Mother Church has four Dogmas about the Blessed Virgin Mary. Dogma is a revealed truth that all Catholics believe, because it’s true. Just as 1+1=2, Dogmas are true facts that have been revealed to us by God. The four Marian Dogmas are: Mary was Immaculately Conceived in her mother’s womb, Mary is the Mother of God, Mary has Perpetual Virginity, and Mary was Assumed into Heaven body and soul. All four of these Dogmas, while they have Mary as the subject, are really about Jesus Christ and reveal who Jesus is to us.

As we discussed last week, Jesus is God! God could not take on human flesh in just any woman because we are all sinners. God, who is all-mighty, all-knowing, all-good, all-present, and eternal needed a pure vessel to take flesh in. Whichever woman that would become the Mother of God needed to be cleansed of original sin, and because God gave us free will, that woman would have to choose it from the moment of her conception. Mary did just that, which is why we celebrate her Immaculate Conception on December 8th every year. Mary’s Immaculate Conception is what allowed the Son of God to take on human flesh in a mother.

This ties into Mary’s perpetual virginity, Jesus was conceived in His mother’s womb by the third person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit – she remained a virgin. Think back to Genesis when Adam and Eve sinned. What was one of the consequences of Original Sin? That women would feel pain in birthing children. Since Mary was freed from Original Sin at her Immaculate Conception, she would not suffer the consequences of sin, therefore when she gave birth to Jesus, she still would remain a virgin. For the same reason, Mary was Assumed into Heaven. Fear of death is another consequence of original sin; Mary was not afraid of death and was Assumed into Heaven body and soul.

The fact that we proclaim Mary as Mother of God is something we take for granted. This was a HUGE point of contention in the early Church. How can God who is the un-moved mover, the un-caused cause, the eternal being have a mother?! Go back to our discussion on Jesus as Son of God, Jesus was not created in his mother’s womb, the Son of God always existed; but He did receive human flesh in His mother’s womb. The whole point of the Incarnation (God becoming human) is that God wants to be so intimately united to us and know what it’s like to be human so that He could redeem us and give us eternal life. For God to know and experience humanity, He had to be born like we’re born, and He had to die like humans die. This is how salvation works. This is why it’s so important that we proclaim Mary is the Mother of God, because it reminds us who Jesus is and why Jesus became human.

During this Christmas season look at the nativity scene in your home, the one we have outside, or when we have ours up in Church and reflect on the Holy Family. When you see the baby Jesus, remember that while He’s an innocent baby, He is almighty God who loves us so much that He became a human baby. Also, remember that almighty God didn’t choose a castle with servants to be born, He chose a humble family in the Judean dessert. His mother reveals God to us through her life and her vocation as Mother of God. St. Joseph freely chose to be part of this vocation and ministry as foster father of Jesus.

The nativity scene is a reminder of the humility we’re all called to, just as the Cross is a reminder of our mission as Disciples of Jesus. I hope you are prepared to seek humility as God was humble enough to become human. I hope you’re ready to accept your own Cross.