Entering into the covenant with God

January 1, 2006 -- Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, The Mother Of God

By Fr. Michael Stubbs

	Fr. Mike Stubbs

The modern world calls it New Year's Day. In the Catholic Church we now know it as the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. Years ago, we celebrated it as the Feast of the Circumcision. But throughout, a key sentence in the gospel reading for Mass has remained constant:

"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." The gospel reading mentions the circumcision of Jesus a week after his birth, which explains the timing of this feast day, a week after Christmas.

It was not enough for a boy to be born Jewish. He also needed to be circumcised to become part of the Jewish community. This duty is indicated several times in the Hebrew Scriptures. For example, God says to Abraham, "Circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that will be the mark of the covenant between you and me. Throughout the ages, every male among you, when he is eight days old, shall be circumcised. ... Thus, my covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting pact." (Gen 17: 11-13)

Through circumcision, the baby boy became a member of the Jewish community, bound in covenant to God. His name was bestowed upon him at that time. Catholics follow the practice of naming the baby at an infant baptism.

In the Middle East, there were several groups besides the Jews who also practiced circumcision, for example the Egyptians. It was not an exclusively Jewish custom. At the same time, circumcision frequently separated Jews from non-Jews. At the time of Jesus, Greeks and Romans would have stood out as the uncircumcised, not belonging to the covenant.

Several centuries earlier, when the Jews were in exile in Babylon, circumcision served as an important mark of their identity. That practice distinguished them from the Babylonians, who were not circumcised. It helped to maintain their cohesion as a people.

Even earlier, during the time of David, the Philistines were important uncircumcised enemies of the Israelites. We might remember that Goliath, whom David defeats in single combat as a young boy, was a Philistine hero. In one case, their uncircumcision made for an unusual war trophy: "David made preparations and sallied forth with his men and slew 200 Philistines. He brought back their foreskins and counted them out before the king, that he might thus become the king's son-in-law. So Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage." (1 Sm 18:27)

The custom of circumcision already had enjoyed a long history among the people of Israel when the baby boy Jesus was circumcised. It was the means through which he entered into the covenant with God made through Moses. Jesus would carry the mark of that covenant on his flesh. It was the same flesh that would eventually be nailed to the cross, to establish a new covenant between God and us through his death and resurrection.

(Fr. Stubbs, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, has a master's degree in theology from Harvard.)