Life name

Key words in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for the Octave Day of Christmas and the Feast of Mary, Mother of God are Shalom,Theotokos, Jesus and heir.

"Enfleshing the Holy"
A sermon in which I describe an apparition of the Theotokos. https://t.co/WGDVzRlQlx pic.twitter.com/VdEZzNCI3O

— Brian Zahnd (@BrianZahnd) December 17, 2017

 The blessing in Chapter 6 of the Book of Numbers is for “shalom” that is a term that expresses far more than a hope that you be blessed with an absence of war. 

* [6:26] Peace: the Hebrew word Shalom includes the idea of happiness, good health, prosperity, friendship, and general well-being. To use this term as a greeting was to pray for all these things upon the one greeted.

In the Letter to the Galatians, Paul declares our status as children of God and heirs to His Kingdom.

* [4:1–7] What Paul has argued in Gal 3:26–29 is now elaborated in terms of the Christian as the heir (Gal 4:1, 7; cf. Gal 3:18, 29) freed from control by others. Again, as in Gal 3:2–5, the proof that Christians are children of God is the gift of the Spirit of Christ relating them intimately to God.

Jesus, Yeshua, or “Yahweh saves” is incorporated into the people of Israel in observing the rites and rituals for Jewish males as presented in the Gospel from Luke.

* [2:21] Just as John before him had been incorporated into the people of Israel through his circumcision, so too this child (see note on Lk 1:57–66).

Sr. Candice Tucci, O.S.F., connects the “yes” of Mary to our life mission as Christians from womb to tomb. The term from Orthodox spirituality for Mary is Theotokos.

Mary gave birth to Jesus, Jesus rose from the darkness of the tomb to give us the Spirit and now it is for us to give life to Christ in an on-going mutuality of co-creating our worlds. She gave birth to the New Creation and we in our own spiritual journeys move from the womb, to tomb, to a new creation. In times of darkness, our faith demands, like Mary, to be a sign of hope. In everyday life Mary is our model of discipleship, to give birth to and proclaim the WORD, as we give witness to Christ within and among us. Mary is woman of wisdom and grace, our mother, sister, companion, advocate, friend and prophet.
When we gather at the Eucharist today let us imagine Mary as a living prayer. She is the Theotokos, the God-bearer. We are called to be and do the same. “Only Christ-bearers can restore the world to life and give humanity back the vitality of love.” – C. Houselander

Eric Jobe describes what to take away from the celebration of Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant. 

The feast of Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple heralds the return of the glory of Yahweh, which glory we perceive in the face of Christ Immanuel – God with Us. He is seated upon his throne, and He raises us up with him into the heavenly Temple, where we may commune with Him and reign with Him in His Kingdom as joint heirs. Let us not sing the hymns to the Theotokos the same way ever again. When we sing “More honorable than the Cherubim,” let us contemplate the real significance of it and realize that we are being raised from Earth to Heaven to commune with the One who sits upon His Cherubic Throne, the Virgin Mary.

The New Year is an opportunity to consider a reboot of our mission. The four terms from study of the Scripture today offer blessings on our path to becoming the disciple modeled by Mary.