The Octave Day of Christmas: the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
(Luke 2:16-21)
We call the first month of the year January after Janus, the pagan god of gates or doors. Statues of Janus have two heads like a door has two sides -- one looking backward and the other forward. Certainly in January we look in these two directions. We repeatedly refer to the old year, sometimes mistakenly writing it on checks. But as the month moves along, we think more of the possibilities lying in the year just begun.
The last verse of the gospel reading today similarly looks backward and forward. It says that Mary’s child “was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel...” The word of God spoken in the past has thus been fulfilled. The name Jesus, of course, means God saves. In the rest of the gospel we will hear how Jesus fulfills the destiny related in his name.
Preachers sometimes chide listeners, “Put Christ back into Christmas.” If this call means nothing else, it reminds us that we are to look both backward and forward when contemplating Jesus in the manger. He, like all babies, has delighted us with his soft flesh and warm blood. In the future he will reveal his glory as the son of God with his triumph over sin and death.
