The Solemnity of Mary – Eighth Day of Christmas

This year, the Solemnity of Mary on New Years Day is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation. I guess the bishops felt that asking the faithful to get to mass two days in a row, two weeks in a row, is too much!

Whatever…

I think the faithful could be pushed a little more to practice their faith.

Some thoughts on the day

A few years ago, Father V. had a wonderful point to make in his homily last year. I shall attempt to paraphrase.

He said, that for practicing Catholics, resolutions at New Years are somewhat redundant. Catholics are always resolving to sin no more. Each confession is an acknowledgment of where we have fallen short. We even have an entire season of Lent to come to terms with trying to be better Christians and human beings.

In our quest “to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect,” we look to one that God already perfected – Mary. Mary the meek, humble, obedient who always points us toward her son. And that really is a good reason to honor her solemnity and her maternity on this eighth day of Christmas.


Jennifer Fulweiler is a former atheist and convert to Catholicism (blogger and author of Something Other Than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It).

Jenny said:

This may not be the case for atheists who had a Protestant upbringing, but most of the atheist-to-Catholic converts I know who had no religious background didn’t struggle with the Church’s emphasis on Mary—and many say that it always kind of made sense to them.

To me, overlooking Mary was an example of intellectual inconsistency within Christianity: If you believe that there is a great Creator who, in his unfathomable power, brought forth the universe out of nothing … and you believe that he chose his own  why on earth would you not freak out about this woman? How unbelievably special would she have to be to be fit for God himself to call her “Mommy”? So when I heard that Catholics place a huge emphasis on the Mother of God, my reaction was basically to shrug and say, “Yeah. Of course.”

Today we also ponder the 8 beatitudes!

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Last year, I picked one of the Beatitudes to work on in 2023. I think I am naturally called as a Peacemaker, although I’m pretty sure I am also called to work on being meek.

I think the two worked out well. I have peace in my family and with my relationships. The opportunities to practice meekness has been surprisingly abundant. This year, I am praying for wisdom to interpret those experiences. We’ll see.