When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,
born of a woman, born under the law,
to ransom those under the law,
so that we might receive adoption as sons.
If Jesus had not been born of a woman, born under the law, he would not have been able to bear the curse of the law for our sake. He was fully human, like us in all things, but sin, so that he could be our great high priest.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin (see Hebrews 4:15).
Had he not been the Son of God, who was God, and who was with the Father in the beginning (see John 1:1), he could not have brought us forgiveness and healing. Only because he was infinitely worthy as God could his sacrifice avail for all humankind. Only because of his complete divinity could he perfectly respond to the will of the Father, and in doing so heal our own broken wills, elevating those who would welcome that healing to become partakers of the divine nature (see Second Peter 1:3-4).
It was from Mary that he had a human will to perfect and offer to the Father. It was from the life he shared with the Father that he had the power to offer it, and that made it a worthy offering. But because these two truths came together in the one person of Jesus we ourselves were given an entry point from which we could come to share in fruit of that offering. We were made able to become sons and daughters in the Son
As proof that you are sons,
God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying out, “Abba, Father!”
So you are no longer a slave but a son,
and if a son then also an heir, through God.
Although Aquinas maintained that God could have chosen other ways in which to redeem us, nevertheless the incarnation was the most perfect way. It was a means that embraced humanity in an intimate way, that wrought transformation from the inside out. It was so much more than a mere declaration from outside.
What has not been assumed has not been healed- St. Gregory Nazianzus
Nothing about the incarnation was accidental. Jesus had a human mother because he himself desired to be like us, because in being like us he could be near us, and in being near us he could most perfectly heal and raise us up. But she was more than a generic figure who could be replaced with any woman. Only with Mary did the fullness of time arrive. This is because the God who gave the commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother" desired that his human mother be immaculate, so he could perfectly fulfill that commandment and, as man, honor his mother. That he chose to have a human mother only made sense because in doing so he desired to elevate humanity in her. It is no great leap from that to understand why he chose to make her the mother of us all as well, that all generations would call her blessed (see Luke 1:48).
the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus (see Revelation 12:17).
All who are given blessings are meant to become blessings. It is as though Mary's very life is an embodiment of the prayer of priestly blessing given to Moses:
Say to them:
The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon
you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and
give you peace!
It is because of Mary that the face of God was made to shine upon his people. It was because of her that we received Jesus, who himself is our peace (see Ephesians 2:14).
We are permitted to have great intimacy with one who, though not divine, knew her son more intimately than other creature knew him. If we simply come to her and allow her to be the mother to us that she is meant to be she will reveal her son to us, the very things which she kept and reflected on in her heart.
And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
In particular, Mary can help us to see how Jesus is the one in whom God and man meet in a single person. She reveals his humanity, because he has it from her. She reveals his divinity because it was she who first welcomed the divinity by her fiat.
Let us follow the shepherds and join Mary and Joseph around the manger, learning from the mother to marvel at the son. If we do, our return to daily life will not be unchanged.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.
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