The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
1 January 2022 at Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Naples, FL
As this was not a Holy Day of Obligation, this homily was not delivered.
Numbers 6, 22-27 + Psalm 67 + Galatians 4, 4-7 + Luke 2, 16-21
I have always been just a little bit uncomfortable with the Church’s use of words to name this feast that in my own life-time has had several other names. “Back in the day” I can remember this day on the Church’s calendar as the “Feast of the Circumcision.” Then in 1960 Pope John XXIII removed the term “Circumcision” and simply called this day, “The Octave of the Nativity” which of course means the eighth day when, according to the religious law at the time required the ritual of circumcision for Hebrew children. … more »