By: Fr. Innocent Ike Nwachukwu, Ph.D.
The Church at the beginning of every new year (January 1) celebrates the divine Motherhood of Mary (Mother of God <Theotokos>), as well as the World Day of Peace. In both events, the Church celebrates Christ, Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary and our true peace. “The title ‘Mother of God,’ together with the title ‘Blessed Virgin,’ is the oldest on which all the other titles with which Our Lady was venerated are based, and it continues to be invoked from generation to generation in the East and in the West” (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and 41st World Day of Peace, Holy See Press Office, Vatican City, January 1, 2008).
Accordingly, the mystery of divine Motherhood contains in superabundant measure the gift of grace that all human motherhood bears within it, so much so that the fruitfulness of the womb has always been associated with God’s blessing. “From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. “Full of grace,” Mary is “the most excellent fruit of redemption” (Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 103): “From the first moment of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin, and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 508).
The dogma of the divine Motherhood of Mary was proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus in 431 and is for the Church like a seal upon the dogma of the Incarnation, in which the Word truly assumes human nature into the unity of his person, without cancelling out that nature (cf. Saint John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Mater, n. 4). Called in the Gospels “the mother of Jesus,” Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as “the mother of my Lord” (Lk 1:43). Thus, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence, the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” [Theotokos]” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 495).
Similarly, “there have been a multitude of hymns and a wealth of prayers of our Catholic tradition that refer to the mystery of Mary’s divine motherhood, such as, for example, a Marian antiphon of the Christmas season, Alma Redemptoris Mater, with which we pray in these words: “Tu quae genuisti, natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem, Virgo prius ac posterius,” that is, “You, in the wonder of all creation, have brought forth your Creator, Mother ever virgin” (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and 41st World Day of Peace, January 1, 2008). Other terms used are the popular title Mater Dei (Mother of God) and Dei Genetrix (literally, “the one who brings forth God”). Although Mary is acknowledged as the Mother of God, it does not mean that she is older than God or the source or origin of her Son’s divinity. Rather, the title is understood to mean that she carried in her womb a Divine Person, Christ Jesus, who is God in the flesh, Emmanuel.
From the biblical standpoint, the doctrine of the divine Motherhood is found in the following passages of the Scripture, from the Old to the New Testaments. In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, the Prophet says, “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel, God-with-us” (Isaiah 7:14). The Gospel of John affirms this doctrine as thus: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians has a strong statement on this doctrine as follows: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Gal 4:4).
Additionally, the Gospel of Saint Luke further affirms this divine maternity with the message of the angel, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Lk 1:35). This doctrine is inherently related to the Christological dogma of the hypostatic union that relates the divine and human natures of Christ. Hence, our Catholic Catechism teaches that “Mary is truly ‘Mother of God’ since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself.” Although the Child lying in a manger looks like all children in the world, at the same time, he is totally different: he is the Son of God; he is God, true God, and true man, the Prince of Peace. Thus, the New Year’s message is a message of peace.
Jesus’s and Mary’s titles as the Prince of Peace and Queen of Peace, respectively, remind us of the importance of peace in our lives. It reminds us that peace is “an aspect of God’s activity, made manifest both in the creation of an orderly and harmonious universe and in the redemption of humanity that needs to be rescued from the disorder of sin” (Pope Benedict XVI, World Day of Peace, Holy See Press Office, Vatican City, January 1, 2007). As part of the tradition in the Vatican on New Year’s Day, the Pope sends “prayerful good wishes for peace to governments, leaders of nations, and all men and women of good will, thereby invoking peace upon all those experiencing pain and suffering, those living under the threat of violence and armed aggression, and those who await their human and social emancipation, having had their dignity trampled upon, including children.”
The Pope’s message of peace is in line with the peace the angels proclaimed to the shepherds the night Christ was born: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (cf. Lk 2:14). Peace, according to Pope Francis, is a “great and precious value, the object of our hope and the aspiration of the entire human family. As a human attitude, our hope for peace is marked by an existential tension that makes it possible for the present, with all its difficulties, to be “lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey” (Pope Francis, LIII World Day of Peace, Vatican City, January 1, 2020). Peace is a profound aspiration for everyone and all peoples, and especially “for those who most keenly suffer its absence.”
In the wisdom of the New Testament, peace is one of the essential qualities of our human existence, as well as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We are made free only when we are liberated in the depths of our spirit. Peace is found in this depth of freedom. It is not static. It is dynamic and full of vitality. As a gift, peace is the sense of joyful well-being that floods us when we find ourselves to be truly harmonious. By persevering, we find that “peace is life finding its own inner coherence.” Everyone is summoned to find it: if only we become its disciples, disciples of peace. To become disciples of peace is to become disciples of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. In doing so, we find our full resonance in God. We are called to be in resonance not only with God but also in God through our love for our neighbor. Our destiny is to find peace beyond our narrow selves in God. No peace will have solid foundations “unless hearts nourish the sentiment of brotherhood that ought to exist among all who have a common origin and are called to the same destiny.”
However, the temptation for us is to “see peace as a state that can be induced.” Our culture “persuades us that we can induce” any emotional state we choose by “chemical means or by changing external conditions.” Peace is not induced. It is entered. It is released. It is not commanded but received. Jesus is Peace. We cannot command him, but we can receive him. Peace “depends on a complete correspondence between all our faculties.” All our potentials need to be awakened if we are to be at peace. All our potentials need to be awakened if we are to be with Jesus, the peacemaker. The only power that can create peace in the world is the power of love, the power of dialogue, the power of forgiveness, the power of reconciliation, the power of mercy, the power of kindness, the power of gentleness, and the power to let go of wrongdoing or injury. The only power that can create peace in our families is the power of peace found, known, and experienced in our human hearts. This “peace power” is the “core and foundation of our being” (John Main, Door to Silence, An Anthology for Christian Meditation, Canterbury Press, Norwich, pp. 2, 3).
As the year 2026 begins, we pray for peace around the world, in our families and relationships, especially for families in crisis or in some type of difficulty, and for divided and quarreling families. The new year offers us great opportunities for dialogue, understanding, reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace. In his 2026 Message for the World Day of Peace, Pope Leo XIV invites us to be instruments of peace. He writes, “Whether we have the gift of faith or feel we lack it, let us open ourselves to peace! Let us welcome it and recognize it, rather than believing it to be impossible and beyond our reach. Peace is more than just a goal; it is a presence and a journey. Even when it is endangered within us and around us, like a small flame threatened by a storm, we must protect it, never forgetting the names and stories of those who have borne witness to it. Peace is a principle that guides and defines our choices” (Pope Leo XIV, Message for the LIX World Day of Peace, December 8, 2025).
Therefore, we can never go wrong when we dialogue, when we listen to understand, when we reconcile our differences, when we forgive and let go of wounded memories, and when we make peace. Each of us is called to be an instrument of reconciliation and peace. Only a humble heart can listen to understand, dialogue, forgive, and make peace. Let us invite Jesus, the Prince of Peace, into our families and relationships, and experience the love, joy, and peace he gives to people of goodwill. Let us ask our Blessed Mother Mary, Mother of God, and Queen of Peace to intercede for us in granting peace to the world. Happy New Year!
