Father Thomas Welbers' Homily	Jump back to Homily Index
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, January 1, 2004 Numbers 6:22-27 Galatians 4:4-7 Luke 2:16-21	Listen to Audio

The earliest parts of Old Testament as we know it today, the first five books, known as the Pentateuch or the Torah – the books of the Law – were not finally compiled until after the Babylonian Exile, that means they come from sometime around the five-hundreds, BC. Before that, they were handed down in oral and written traditions – memories passed on from generation to generation, and sometimes written down in fragmentary ways, but not as the books which we know today.

That is significant for the first reading, which is from the Book of Numbers. Whatever the actual ancient origin of this blessing, scholars tell us that it was used when the refugees, returning from the Babylonian exile, came back to a desolate and destroyed homeland. They recognized that their exile had been a punishment for sin, and they longed for a sign and reassurance of God’s favor. The priests, then, in the words of this blessing, were able to assure them that God’s face would shine upon then in the new Temple to be rebuilt. Listen again to these words:

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.

Today we come to worship. We gather at the end of an old year, and the threshold of a new. We come with a variety of feelings, anxieties perhaps, hopes, fears. We don’t expect literally to see the shining face God, not in any one place, like a Temple. But rather, we recognize that in Jesus, as Jesus has come into this world to be fully one of us, we now are made members of his body. We now are his face. We now are the face of God.

And so, in looking in one another’s faces, do we recognize the face of God shining upon us. Sometimes, with some people that’s easy; with others it’s not so easy. Do we recognize the face of God even in them.

And on the other hand, do our faces reflect the face of God – in welcome, acceptance, mercy, reassurance, forgiveness, and love. Will we this year consent to allow God to use us more full as his face?

© Thomas Welbers 2003