Today concludes the celebration of the Octave of Christmas, and properly speaking, marks the midway point of the celebration of the Incarnation that began on Christmas Eve and that will not conclude until with the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism. We might find it strange, then, that the Church places the Solemnity of the Motherhood of Mary at the center point of the Christmas Season. After all, aren’t we celebrating the birth of Christ? The answer is, absolutely. As Tony explains, far from distracting from the celebration of Christ’s birth, today’s celebration in a very unique and clear way reminds us of just whose birth we are celebrating.
Mass Readings:
Reading 1: Numbers 6:22-27
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
Reading 2: Galatians 4:4-7
Gospel: Luke 2:16-21
Tony Crescio is the founder of FRESHImage Ministries. He holds an MTS from the University of Notre Dame and is currently a PhD candidate in Christian Theology at Saint Louis University. His research focuses on the intersection between moral and sacramental theology. His dissertation is entitled, Presencing the Divine: Augustine, the Eucharist and the Ethics of Exemplarity.
Tony’s academic publications can be found here.