“Bearers of light in a world of shadows”: Cardinal Brislin of South Africa Opens 2026 by Pointing Catholics to Mary

“He has brought us safely to this year,” he said, adding that God gives believers “the strength and the faith not only to endure” different kinds of challenges, “but also to work through them with the consciousness of His grace working within us.”

Against the backdrop of New Year resolutions often “quickly forgotten or else quickly broken,” Cardinal Brislin challenged the people of God to adopt a deeper, more enduring resolve rooted in faith. 

Stephen Cardinal Brislin of the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg in South Africa. Credit: SACBC

“As people of faith, it is appropriate for us to resolve at the start of the New Year to try and work to deepen our faith by focusing our lives on God,” he said, calling for renewed prayer, the overcoming of bad habits, and a commitment to “doing what is righteous and holy in the eyes of God.”

The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, he explained, offers more than a devotional moment; it provides a theological compass for the year ahead. 

Stephen Cardinal Brislin of the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg in South Africa. Credit: SACBC

Acknowledging that the title “Mother of God” can be difficult for some Christians to grasp, Cardinal Brislin clarified that Marian feasts ultimately direct attention to God rather than to Mary herself. 

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“As with all other Marian feasts, today’s feast teaches us more about God, rather than about Mary herself,” he said, and added, “The focus of the Christian is always on God, and not on Mary or any other person.”

At the heart of the feast, Cardinal Brislin emphasized, is the Church’s confession that Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine. 

“Today’s feast is important, because it is a solemn reminder that the Son of Jesus is not only flesh and blood like us, not only human, but He is also divine,” the Local Ordinary of Johannesburg Archdiocese following his transfer from the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town in October 2024 said.

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Through Mary’s “yes to God,” “the Word became flesh,” a mystery that continues to shape Christian faith and life, he added.

From this central belief, Cardinal Brislin drew what he described as “very true important ancillary messages,” beginning with the dignity of motherhood. 

In a world where motherhood is often “denigrated, devalued, or simply taken lightly,” he pointed to the Blessed Virgin Mary as a sign of its sacred vocation. “Mary symbolizes the immense dignity and vocation of motherhood,” he said, lamenting that “there are enormous and indeed different laws that devalue motherhood, and do not support it in concert.”

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Stephen Cardinal Brislin of the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg in South Africa. Credit: SACBC

Quoting reflections on the experience of motherhood, the Cardinal described it as “a transformative, paradoxical journey of profound love, sacrifice and growth,” marked by “selfless giving, fierce protection, and deep personal transformation.” He called it “a vocation that comes from God, and that fills the world with love.”

Yet the feast, he stressed, does not speak only to mothers. Just as Mary carried Christ in her womb, believers are called to make space for God’s Word in their own lives. 

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“So, we too must make a place in our hearts and in our bodies for the Word,” Cardinal Brislin said, underscoring that faith is not merely about doctrines and commandments, but about allowing God’s truth to shape one’s entire being.

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“Faith is interpolating the truths that the Church teaches us… to integrate them into our lives, and so to allow them to transform us as human beings into being true sons and daughters of God,” he said. 

In doing so, he continued, Christians, “in some sense… bring forth the Divine Jesus into the world, so that others may encounter His truth and His love.”

Linking belief to action, the Local Ordinary of Johannesburg Archdiocese invoked the Letter of St. James: “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Authentic faith, he said, is lived through “truth and mercy,” making believers “instruments of encounter between others and Jesus, who is both God and man.”

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The South African Cardinal who started his Episcopal Ministry in January 2007 as Bishop of Kroonstad Catholic Diocese went on to highlight Mary’s unique role as a bridge between peoples and religions. 

“Mary is the only woman who is named in the Quran,” he noted, adding that she is “mentioned by name 24 times, and is upheld as a person of virtue.” 

Beyond Christianity and Islam, Cardinal Brislin said and Mary is also revered in the Baha’i and Druze traditions. “Through Mary, God has chosen to unite disparate peoples,” he said, as they recognize in her “the lived beauty and the goodness of the Divine.”

Stephen Cardinal Brislin of the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg in South Africa. Credit: SACBC

As 2026 begins, Cardinal Brislin invited the people of God in South Africa, across Africa, and around the world to turn once more to the Blessed Virgin Mary as “Mother of God, Mother of the Church, and our Mother,” seeking her intercession “for the coming year, that we may be faithful to God, and to our calling as mothers, fathers, and as disciples of Jesus.”

He urged believers to live what they profess, and implored, “May we embrace the Word, and live it, live it, through our own dignity of mercy and righteousness.”

Stephen Cardinal Brislin of the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg in South Africa. Credit: SACBC

Cardinal Brislin’s New Year blessing drew from Scripture and set a tone of peace and hope for the year ahead. He said, “May the Lord bless you and keep you… and give you peace.”

On the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Cardinal Brislin’s message resonated as both a reassurance and a challenge — to step into the New Year 2026 grounded in gratitude, strengthened by faith, and committed to being light amid the shadows of the world.