It’s the time of year when we roll out the old and bring in
the new. It’s the time for making new
resolutions, new promised to ourselves.
We resolve to devote more time to family life; we resolve to work more
efficiently; and we people decide to become healthier by dieting and
exercising.
Our resolutions are filled our dreams and hopes and goals
for the coming year. But the question
that the Scriptures today invite us to reflect on: What are God’s plan for us this year? Instead of focusing on my resolutions for the
New Year, may we be open to God’s resolutions for us this year.
This is such a fundamental spiritual conversion the
Scriptures call us to. Instead of
focusing on my resolutions, we seek to open ourselves up to saying YES to God’s
plan for our life in 2017.
How do we become more aware of God’s plan for us in 2017? Instead of naming my resolutions for the
coming year, I seek to listen to God’s resolutions for me this coming year.
There is no better model for us than Mary in opening
ourselves to God’s plan for our lives.
We know at the Annunciation when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary
that she was to be the mother of our Savior and Lord, Mary worked through her
fear and confusion and said YES to God’s plan for her. With such an inspiring faith, Mary spoke
these powerful words: “I am the handmaid
of the Lord. Be it done to me according
to thy Word.”
Can we with Mary speak these words at the beginning of
2017: “I am the servant of the
Lord. Be it done to me according to thy
word.”
We begin the New Year on New Years’ Eve.
New Year’s Eve has an almost carnival-like atmosphere to
it. To celebrate it, we do all sorts of
things: enjoy parties, watch football
games, drink champagne, toast new beginnings, wear crazy heats, set off
fireworks, kiss and hug old friends, and watch the ball drop from Times Square.
In contrast to the frenzy of our celebrations on New Years’
Eve, Mary pondered in silence and stillness in the Bethlehem crib. “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on
them in her heart.”
Mary pondered and wondered and discerned about all that had
puzzled her in the message of the angels and in the gifts of the magi. Yes, there was uncertainty and questions for
Mary and Joseph as they pondered the messages given to them about their
son. But her uncertainly about the
messages given to her by the shepherds and the Magi did not keep her from
reflecting and pondering about God’s plan for her life.
To ponder means more than thinking, organizing, worrying,
doing, procrastinating, scurrying, etc.
To ponder means that we pray with a faith-filled heart over the joys and
the struggles and challenges of the day.
It means to meditate, quiet down and know we are surrounded by God’s
unending love. We give thanks for the
blessings of the day. May we commit
ourselves again to imitating her openness to God’s will and her love for Christ
and his Church.
We listen best when we make the effort to go to that quiet
place to hear God speaking to us. We
take the side of God in the battle between life and destruction, between light
and darkness.
If we want to celebrate Christmas as Mary did, we need to
ponder this sign: the frail simplicity
of a tiny newborn child, the meekness with which he is placed in a manger, the
tender affection with which he is wrapped in his swaddling clothes. This is where God is.
What Mary pondered reveals a Gospel paradox. The Gospel speaks of the emperor, the
governor, the high and mighty of those times, yet God does not make himself
present there. He appears not in the
splendor of a royal palace, but in the poverty of a stable; not in pomp and
show, but in simplicity of life; not in power, but astonishing smallness. In order to meet him, we need to go where he
is. We need to bow down, to humble
ourselves, to make ourselves small. The
newborn Child challenges us. We need to
discover in the simplicity of the divine Child the peace, joy and the luminous
meaning of life.
So, in our parish plans for the Church of the Holy Spirit,
we hope to increase the number of people in the pews on Sunday; we hope that we
embrace more fully a spirituality of stewardship; and we would love it if we
have more baptisms, First Communions, and Confirmations as a sign of our parish
vibrancy. These are our hopes but much
more important than our plans, may we as a parish community be open to God’s
plan for our parish life. Following the
example of Mary, may we never lose sight of our need to ponder and discern how
God is calling us to listen, to serve, and to pray.
In our personal life with our hopes and dreams for 2017, may
we encounter Jesus in these hopes and dreams. Pondering on the meaning of the Bethlehem
crib, we may need to bow down, to humble ourselves, and to make ourselves
small. We need to go where God is.
Jesus enters our life to give us His life; he comes into our
world to give us his love. In 2017
through the intercession of Mary, may we be challenged and called by
Jesus. Let us draw close to God who
draws close to us. Let us pause to gaze
upon the crib, and relive in our imagination the birth of Jesus: light and
peace, dire poverty and rejection. With
the shepherds, let us enter into the real Christmas, bringing to Jesus all that
we are, our alienation, our unhealed wounds, our sins. Then, in Jesus, we will enjoy the taste of
the true spirit of Christmas: the beauty
of being loved by God. With Mary and
Joseph, let us pause before the manger, before Jesus who is born as bread for
my life.
The life of Jesus began with Mary
at the Bethlehem crib. Therefore it is
most appropriate we begin the New Year with Mary on this her feast day of Mary
the Mother of God. With the example and
the intercession of Mary, may our parish life be filled with opportunity after
opportunity to say YES to the plan of God for our lives.
Have a blessed day and a blessed
New Year.
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