The Mother of God calls us to be 'Bearers of God'

Men have crowded all her glory into a single phrase: The Mother of God. No one can say anything greater of her. (Martin Luther)

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - From antiquity, Mary has been called "Theotokos", or "God-Bearer" (Mother of God). It is a relatively recent phenomenon among some Christians that this term has even become controversial. Yet since the Protestant reformation - it has. So, sadly, it is this title which prevents some Christians from experiencing Mary as the gift that she is meant to be for the whole church and for the world. The word in Greek is "Theotokos".

The term was used as part of the popular piety of the early first millennium church. It is used throughout the Eastern Church's Liturgy, both Orthodox and Catholic. It lies at the heart of the Latin Rite's deep Marian piety and devotion. This title was a response to the early threats to 'orthodoxy' or the preservation of authentic Christian teaching. A pronouncement of an early Church Council, The Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D., insisted "... If anyone does not confess that God is truly Emmanuel, and that on this account the holy virgin is the "Theotokos" (for according to the flesh she gave birth to the word of God become flesh by birth) let him be anathema." The Council of Ephesus, 431 AD,

I believe that this division over Mary need not and should not continue. First, the historical reason for the Council's insistence on the use of the title reflected a an effort to preserve the teaching of the Christian church that Jesus was both Divine and human, that the two natures were united in His Person. Not only was that teaching under an assault then, it is under an assault now. This teaching lies at the heart of the Christian claim and the implications of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ for all who bear the name Christian. It must be protected as the unique distinctive and contribution of Christianity.

The reason that the early Church Council pronounced this doctrine was "Christological", meaning that it had to do with Jesus Christ. No one has ever claimed that Mary gave birth to His Divinity but rather that His human and divine nature could not be separated.One of the the threats to orthodoxy in that day was an interpretation of the teachings of a Bishop of Constantinople named Nestorius. Some of his followers insisted on calling Mary only the "Mother of "the Christ"".The Council insisted on the use of the title (in the Greek) of "Theotokos," ("Mother of God" or "God-bearer") to reaffirm the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

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Continued disagreements concerning this term through Christian history have led to a diminution in the role of Mary in some Christian circles. Subsequent reaction and counter reactions have made it all very complicated. This has impeded some Christians from grasping a deeper truth concerning the very meaning of Mary's life - her humility and her deference to God's Will. Perhaps it has also impeded a fuller understanding of the call to every Christian to live our lives for God as Mary did? Maybe it has also undermined our mission to bring "the world" to the new world, recreated in her Son, the Church which is His Body on earth, continuing His redemptive mission?

When we fail to receive the great gift of Mary and learn to pray her prayer and live like her we may miss the call of every Christian to bear Jesus for the world as she did. It is time to re- examine the deeper implications of the treasure that is found in the life example and message of the little Virgin of Nazareth. This wonderful title, Mary, the Mother of God, "Theotokos", reveals a profound truth not only about Mary, but about each one of us. We are now invited into the very relationship that she had with her Son. We can become "God-bearers" and bring Him to all those whom we encounter in our few short days under the sun.

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