St. Luke tells us that eight days after his birth, as was the Jewish religious tradition, the child Jesus was circumcised and formally given his name. Not many years ago, the Church, instead of focusing on these things that happened a week after the birth of the Son of God, started to put its attention on the mother of this little child.

The momentous event of the Incarnation of the Son of God in the virginal womb of Mary marked history before and after. The verse from the book of Ecclesiastes, “What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun!” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) took on a new meaning with the incarnation of the Son of God. That day there was something new under the sun. And what a great event it was.

Today's feast is another way of seeing this same saving event but with the focus on the woman who conceived the Son of God. Mary's motherhood begins on the day of the Incarnation. This motherhood is unique in history. It is divine and virginal motherhood.

Mary's motherhood was the cause of the extraordinary glory that this woman has. Mary's motherhood was also the anticipation of this same extraordinary glory. The Church pays homage to this extraordinary woman, the only one with the title "Mother of God". And she is so humble that we can hear her response. She deflects from herself and directs the glory to God. "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior" (Luke 1:46-47).

For the Church, and for us believers in her Son, Mary's motherhood is a source of grace and salvation. Through Mary, through her divine motherhood, we have received the author of life. Mary's motherhood is present in our daily prayers. Every time we recite the Hail Mary, we always address her, "Holy Mary, Mother of God."

This eighth day of Christmas, in the Western Hemisphere of the planet, coincides with the opening day of the civil year. These days, and especially today, our greeting is accompanied by the wish that the other person has a happy new year. The Church teaches us that this greeting on the lips of a believer is accompanied by an act of faith. Since time belongs to the Lord, He is “the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13), we all put the new year under the Lord’s dominion. Our Happy New Year greeting is our wish for the other person to be happy because he or she will put the new year under the patronage of the Lord.

The Church also invites us to invoke the action of the Holy Spirit on this day so that he may assist us with his power during the year that is beginning.

Finally, the Church invites us to pray for a peaceful year. For more than half a century now the Church has celebrated January 1st as the World Day for Peace. The first reading is taken from the Book of Numbers, in which Moses teaches the priests to bless the Israelites this way: “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! (Numbers 6:24-26). The Church prays today before the newborn Prince of Peace for world peace. For peace that is not only the absence of social conflict. For peace that is the fruit of justice.

The year we begin today, 2025, is Jubilee Year. It is a time of grace, of drawing closer to God and to one's neighbor. It is a time of reconciliation. It is a time of joy.

Let us ask Holy Mary, Mother of God, to intercede for the Church, for the world so that this New Year may be a year of grace and holiness.

Happy New Year!