Becoming the God-Bearer
<p>Today is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, as well as the commemoration of Jesus’s circumcision into the people of Israel, becoming heir to God’s promises through the Law of Moses, the Torah. Our reflections this morning need to begin with that critical phrase, “Mother of God,” in Greek, Θεοτοκος (<em>Theotokos</em>), the God-Bearer. The third Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church, the Council of Ephesus, in 431 AD, defined for good and all that Mary was certainly Θεοτοκος (<em>Theotokos</em>), although the Fathers of the Christian Church had already been using the term regularly for two centuries — at least since the time of Origen. The term Θεοτοκος (<em>Theotokos</em>) or “Mother of God” is actually telling us more about Jesus than it is about his mother, Mary. In reply to those who suggested that Jesus was only human, or had been adopted by Father God, or had become divine at the resurrection, the Church used this term to make clear that the divine Word took flesh in the Virgin Mary and was born — God in human essence. Accepting that Mary was the Mother of God puts to rest any further controversy over the nature of her son, Jesus.</p>
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