The Prayer after Communion today proclaims two moments of the mystery of Mary: she is the Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church. Mary gave birth to a child and, as instructed by the angel of the Lord, she and Joseph named Him Jesus. In the first instance, then, Mary is mother of Jesus. Through the mystery of His life, death and resurrection, we see that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah who frees us from our sins, the reason given by the angel for His name Jesus.

Mary the mother of Jesus is Mother of Christ, Mother of the Messiah. Proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, we proclaim Him as Son of God. Mary, the Mother of Jesus is Mother of the Son of God. The Church judged it fitting that the Mother of the Son of God should be called Mother of God.

On the Cross, Jesus gave His Mother to the Beloved Disciple so that she became Mother of the Church. At the birth of her Son, Mary "treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart". We may believe that as Mother of the Church, she still does this within the Church and for the sake of the Church.