The First Cut

Appreciating the First Feast of the Year

01/01/2019

Luke 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.

Today’s homily is going to be rated PG-13, so I hope that all the minors here are accompanied by an adult in church. The reason it will be PG-13 is because I want to reflect on the original feast of January 1, which was not Mary, Mother of God. In 1962, January 1 was changed to today’s feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. But do you know what it was prior to that date? It was called “The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ and the Holy Name.” Now, do you all know what the medical procedure of circumcision is, or do I need to show you slides? Indeed, that is what we read in Luke’s gospel today: “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.” Eight days have passed since Christmas and Jesus’ birth, and it is time for the Lord’s circumcision and bestowing the name of Jesus upon him.

Interestingly, do you know when babies are baptized in my home country of India? When they are eight days old. Why? Well, baptism is the New Testament equivalent of the circumcision of the Old Testament. In ancient Israel circumcision was proof that a male belonged to the Chosen People – the proof was seen in the flesh – just like modern Christian baptism is proof that we belong to the new Chosen People, Christians. And what will we celebrate in two weeks’ time? The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John. That new baptism by water will replace the old circumcision with a razor! Thank God! Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament but he also ushered in the New Testament.

But the feast of the circumcision of Christ carried greater meaning than merely being a precursor of baptism. It also symbolized the shedding of blood for our salvation. Saints and scholars up and down the centuries have seen that “first cut” of the sacred Body of the Savior as linked to the sacrifice of the Cross, where not only his foreskin but all his skin was scourged and virtually ripped off his body. In other words, Jesus did not only suffer and shed his blood for our salvation on Golgotha, but he began to suffer for us in Bethlehem.

Jesus was given his name at the same ceremony as the circumcision. As you probably know, his name in Hebrew is “Yeshua” and it means “savior.” His work of saving us began at the same second he received the name of Savior, Jesus. King of fitting, isn’t it? Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “Everyone comes into this world to live, but Jesus came into this world to die.” And I would add: his dying began in seminal form (no pun intended) at his circumcision, when he received the first cut.

Beginning a new year with the Feast of the Circumcision has practical implications for us in 2019. Naturally, we all pray for peace and prosperity in the next twelve months. Have you or others prayed for that? Well, that’s a good thing to pray for. But there’s a good chance we will also suffer: set-backs, stress and maybe even sabotage. In other words, the coming year will also bring suffering. What will we do with those problems and pains that will inevitably arise? Jesus gives us the perfect model to follow: offer all our crosses from cradle to grave up to God for the salvation of the world. St. Paul taught this explicitly to the Colossians in 1:24, saying, “I rejoice in my suffering for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the affliction of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.” St. Paul may well have been thinking about his own circumcision because he had been a devout Jew and a preeminent Pharisee. In other words, we should accept our aches and agonies which we won’t avoid in 2019 as our own little circumcisions, our first cut.

Finally, the feasts of the Circumcision of Christ and Mary, Mother of God, are not really all that different when you think about it. What I mean is that they both underscore the humanity of Jesus, that he was truly a man. The circumcision highlights Jesus masculinity and his consequent vulnerability: that he is fully a man and can bleed. He is not an angel hovering happily above all human misery. Nothing hurts a man more than getting hit in his manhood. And to state Mary is the Mother of God is not intended to exalt her status as much as it serves to lower Jesus status. The belief that Jesus had a human mother means that Jesus himself must have a human nature. We read in Philippians 2:6-7, “Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance.” Because Mary is Mother of God, Jesus can be the Son of a human mother and therefore be human himself. Like mother, like son.

Both the old feast of the Circumcision and the Holy Name, and the new feast of the Mary the Mother of God focus on Jesus’ humility and his humanity. And that’s the important thing to remember every January 1, and the 364 days that follow, namely, the first cut.

Praised be Jesus Christ!