A Homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Put on the full armor of God. Strap the armor of righteousness across your chest. These are fightin’ words…words from St. Paul intended to put you on high alert. When I read them, I can’t help but picture Paul shouting orders like a drill sergeant.
As necessary as such passages are, today’s feast in honor of Mary, Mother of God, provides an alternate perspective. Not that of a sergeant in uniform. but of a peasant in a poncho.
This perspective is beautifully expressed by Sister Maria Emilia Peña, a well-known poet in Mexico. Listen to this portion of a prayer she addresses to Our Lady: We come to you once again, walking through a world filled with cactus. We come with our souls bleeding from thorns of violence, greed and oppression. We ask you to ask your Son to transform our souls into ponchos and shawls, to protect us from these sins and thorns. Surely, on this holy feast, we can’t help but recall how, on the night our Savior was born, Mary wrapped her child in swaddling clothes and placed him in a manger.
This simple gesture, radiant with maternal love, conveys the assurance of God’s affection as well as protection.
Thus begins the sacred role of everyday clothes in the life of faith. Beginning with your baptismal garment, aprons and coveralls, t-shirts and hoodies turn into daily reminders of God’s presence.
St. Paul would agree. In his Letter to the Colossians he writes: “Clothe yours, as God’s chosen ones, with heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”
That shirt on your back is a reminder that “God’s got your back!”
The same notion applies to: leather gloves on the hands of a construction worker… the protective gear of a haz-met worker. the surgical mask of a nurse in an operating room the shin guards worn by a soccer goalie… and the list goes on!
Friends, when Mary clothed her infant son, she wrapped him in love and protection.
Sr. Maria Emillia’s poem concludes With a similar message.
Holy Mother, we ask that you embroider your beautiful image Into our hearts… with the threads of forgiveness and compassion, tenderness and truth.
Yes, ponchos and blankets, sweaters and shawls...snug symbols of faith!
No doubt, when her children leave the house, Mary, like every mother, makes sure they are dressed for the weather.
“Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.”