Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God / Santa Maria, Bunda Allah (Hari Raya Santa Perawan Maria)

Date: 01/01/2025

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.

Reading of the day.

Mary, Mother of God Solemnity (Octave of Christmas), Holy Day of Obligation

First Reading: Numbers 6: 22-27

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 67: 2-3, 5, 6, 8

Second Reading: Galatians 4: 4-7

Alleluia: Hebrews 1: 1-2

Gospel: Luke 2: 16-21

First reading from the Book of Numbers

6:22-27

The LORD said to Moses:

“Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them:

This is how you shall bless the Israelites.

Say to them:

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!

So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites,

and I will bless them.”

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 67: 2-3, 5, 6, 8

R. (2a) May God bless us in his mercy.

2 May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may he cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us, and may he have mercy on us.

3 That we may know thy way upon earth: thy salvation in all nations.

R. May God bless us in his mercy.

5 Let the nations be glad and rejoice: for thou judgest the people with justice, and directest the nations upon earth.

R. May God bless us in his mercy.

6 Let the people, O God, confess to thee: let all the people give praise to thee:

8 May God bless us: and all the ends of the earth fear him.

R. May God bless us in his mercy.

A reading from the Letter to the Galatians

4:4-7

Brothers and sisters:

When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,

born of a woman, born under the law,

to ransom those under the law,

so that we might receive adoption as sons.

As proof that you are sons,

God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,

crying out, “Abba, Father!”

So you are no longer a slave but a son,

and if a son then also an heir, through God.

Alleluia: Hebrews 1: 1-2

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

1-2 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of the day.

From the Gospel according to Luke

Lk 2:16-21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,

and the infant lying in the manger.

When they saw this,

they made known the message

that had been told them about this child.

All who heard it were amazed

by what had been told them by the shepherds.

And Mary kept all these things,

reflecting on them in her heart.

Then the shepherds returned,

glorifying and praising God

for all they had heard and seen,

just as it had been told to them.

When eight days were completed for his circumcision,

he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel

before he was conceived in the womb.

Words of the Holy Father:

Today the Gospel reveals to us that Mary’s greatness does not consist in performing an extraordinary deed; rather, while the shepherds, having received the announcement from the angels, hurry towards Bethlehem (cf.Lk 2:15-16), she remains silent. The Mother’s silence is a beautiful feature. It is not the simple absence of words, but a silence filled with wonder and adoration for the wonders that God is working. “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart”, Saint Luke notes (2:19). In this way she makes room within herself for the One who was born; in silence and adoration, she places Jesus at the centre and bears witness to him as Saviour. Mary, the Mother of silence; Mary, the Mother of adoration.

Thus, she is Mother not only because she carried Jesus in her womb and gave birth to him, but because she brings him into the light, without occupying his place. She will remain silent even beneath the cross, in the darkest hour, and will continue to make room for him and generate him for us. A 20th-century religious and poet wrote: “Virgin, cathedral of silence / [...] you bring our flesh into paradise / and God into the flesh” (D.M. Turoldo, Laudario alla Vergine. “Via pulchritudinis”, Bologna 1980, 35). Cathedral of silence : it is a beautiful image. With her silence and humility, Mary is God’s first “cathedral”, the place where he and humanity can meet.

But our mothers too, with their hidden care, with their thoughtfulness, are often magnificent cathedrals of silence. They bring us into the world and then continue to attend to us, often unnoticed, so that we can grow. Let us remember this: love never stifles; love makes room for the other. Love lets us grow.

Brothers and sisters, at the beginning of the new year, let us look to Mary and, with a grateful heart, let us also think of and look to mothers, to learn that love that is cultivated above all in silence, that knows how to make room for the other, respecting their dignity, leaving the freedom to express themselves, rejecting every form of possession, oppression and violence. There is so much need for this today, so much! There is so much need for silence to listen to each other. (Angelus, 1 January 2024)

Santa Maria, Bunda Allah (Hari Raya Santa Perawan Maria)

Hari Raya Santa Perawan Maria Bunda Allah mengingatkan kita akan bidaah (ajaran sesat) tentang Kebundaan Illahi Maria, yang muncul pada abad ke 5.  Pokok ajaran bidaah ini ialah bahwa Maria memang Bunda Yesus, tetapi bukan Bunda Allah.

Dalam Konsili Efesus pada tahun 431, ajaran sesat ini dikutuk.  Konsili tetap dengan teguh mempertahankan ajaran yang benar, yaitu bahwa Maria adalah Bunda Allah (Theotokos), karena Yesus Anakanya adalah sungguh-sungguh Allah.  Hari Raya Santa Perawan Maria Bunda Allah ditetapkan oleh Paus Pius XI pada hari ulang tahun ke-1500 Konsili Efesus tersebut.

Pada kesempatan ini, ada baiknya kita merenungkan makna nubuat nabi Yesaya: “Sesungguhnya seorang perempuan muda mengandung dan akan melahirkan seorang anak laki-laki, dan ia akan menamakan Dia, Imanuel” (Yes 7:14), dan makna salam Elisabeth kepada Maria yang mengunjunginya: “Diberkatilah engkau diantara semua perempuan dan diberkatilah buah rahimmu.  Siapakah aku ini, sehingga ibu Tuhanku datang mengunjungi aku?” (Luk 1:42-43).

Merayakan Hari Raya Santa Perawan Maria Bunda Allah juga berarti bahwa kita mengakui Yesus sebagai “sungguh-sungguh Allah dan sungguh-sungguh Manusia”.  Kemulian Maria sebagai Bunda Allah adalah cermin kemulian Anaknya, yaitu Yesus, Tuhan dan Penebus umat manusia.

HARI RAYA

SANTA PERAWAN MARIA BUNDA ALLAH

Hari Perdamaian Sedunia

Bil. 6:22-27; Mzm. 67:2-3,5,6,8; Gal. 4:4-7; Luk. 2:16-21.

Warna Liturgi Putih

Bil 6:22 TUHAN berfirman kepada Musa:

Bil 6:23 "Berbicaralah kepada Harun dan anak-anaknya: Beginilah harus kamu memberkati orang Israel, katakanlah kepada mereka:

Bil 6:24 TUHAN memberkati engkau dan melindungi engkau;

Bil 6:25 TUHAN menyinari engkau dengan wajah-Nya dan memberi engkau kasih karunia;

Bil 6:26 TUHAN menghadapkan wajah-Nya kepadamu dan memberi engkau damai sejahtera.

Bil 6:27 Demikianlah harus mereka meletakkan nama-Ku atas orang Israel, maka Aku akan memberkati mereka."

Mzm 67:2 (67-3) supaya jalan-Mu dikenal di bumi, dan keselamatan-Mu di antara segala bangsa.

Mzm 67:3 (67-4) Kiranya bangsa-bangsa bersyukur kepada-Mu, ya Allah; kiranya bangsa-bangsa semuanya bersyukur kepada-Mu.

Mzm 67:5 (67-6) Kiranya bangsa-bangsa bersyukur kepada-Mu, ya Allah, kiranya bangsa-bangsa semuanya bersyukur kepada-Mu.

Mzm 67:6 (67-7) Tanah telah memberi hasilnya; Allah, Allah kita, memberkati kita.

Gal 4:4 Tetapi setelah genap waktunya, maka Allah mengutus Anak-Nya, yang lahir dari seorang perempuan dan takluk kepada hukum Taurat.

Gal 4:5 Ia diutus untuk menebus mereka, yang takluk kepada hukum Taurat, supaya kita diterima menjadi anak.

Gal 4:6 Dan karena kamu adalah anak, maka Allah telah menyuruh Roh Anak-Nya ke dalam hati kita, yang berseru: "ya Abba, ya Bapa!"

Gal 4:7 Jadi kamu bukan lagi hamba, melainkan anak; jikalau kamu anak, maka kamu juga adalah ahli-ahli waris, oleh Allah.

Luk 2:16 Lalu mereka cepat-cepat berangkat dan menjumpai Maria dan Yusuf dan bayi itu, yang sedang berbaring di dalam palungan.

Luk 2:17 Dan ketika mereka melihat-Nya, mereka memberitahukan apa yang telah dikatakan kepada mereka tentang Anak itu.

Luk 2:18 Dan semua orang yang mendengarnya heran tentang apa yang dikatakan gembala-gembala itu kepada mereka.

Luk 2:19 Tetapi Maria menyimpan segala perkara itu di dalam hatinya dan merenungkannya.

Luk 2:20 Maka kembalilah gembala-gembala itu sambil memuji dan memuliakan Allah karena segala sesuatu yang mereka dengar dan mereka lihat, semuanya sesuai dengan apa yang telah dikatakan kepada mereka.

Luk 2:21 Dan ketika genap delapan hari dan Ia harus disunatkan, Ia diberi nama Yesus, yaitu nama yang disebut oleh malaikat sebelum Ia dikandung ibu-Nya.

Prepared and updated by:

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,

Penampang, Sabah Malaysia.