This Homily was presented on the week of the Feast Day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin 2025
I love my Mom! Do we not all love our mothers? I am sure you have a special relationship with your Mom whether good or bad. Because of the fear of becoming like the Roman Catholics, a lot of protestants have come to hate or ignore the blessed virgin Mary. Yesterday was the celebration of the moment that the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that if she accepted the gift, the Lord would be conceived in her womb. This celebration is called the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It takes place exactly 9 months from Christmas because it is the day Christ was conceived in the womb of his mother. Should we as protestants celebrate this day?! Do we celebrate our own mothers? Yes of course! We celebrate Mother’s day and according to the internet it is the third largest attended Sunday service of the year behind Christmas and Easter. If we are to celebrate our own mother’s like this, why would we not celebrate the Mother of our Lord, of whom the Angel Gabriel said, “Blessed are you among women!” Did an Angel ever say that about your Mom? Mary continues this theme and says in her Magnificat which we say every week, “For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.” There seems to be a large precedent to honor the Mother of God. But how should we honor her? The Roman Catholics obviously go too far, praying to her for salvation, they call her the Mediatrix. Not quite the mediator but close enough. But the Bible does give us a clue on how we are to truly honor Mary. Jesus says this while hanging on the cross, “When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.” This is how we should honor the Virgin Mary, as our own Mother. We are to be the disciple of whom Jesus loved, we are to take care of our mother. We are to honor her in the same way as we honor our own mothers and maybe even more. And most of all we are to listen to her commands. What does Mary, our Mother say, “His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he (Jesus) tells you.’” The way we can best honor Mary is to be good servants that follow what her Son tells us to do. Martin Luther says, “One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The true honor of Mary is the honor of God, the praise of God’s grace… Mary is nothing for the sake of herself, but for the sake of Christ… Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God.” Glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace; goodwill unto the ages of ages Amen.
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