NEW YEARS
DAY 2018
Solemnity of
Mary, the Mother of God
The life of Jesus begins with Mary
at the Bethlehem crib. Therefore it is
most appropriate we begin the New Year with a Feast of Mary – Mary the Mother
of God.
As a people
of faith we gather on this New Year’s Day to honor Mary, the great woman of
faith. We are told, once again, how she
used time…to treasure and reflect in her heart all that God had done for her
and how God was giving direction to her life.
Her example should speak to us for we also need to take the time to
treasure and reflect within our own hearts what God is doing and what God is
calling us to do.
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
promises to ourselves. We resolve to
devote more time to family life; we resolve to work more efficiently; and we
decide to become healthier by dieting and exercising.
Our
resolutions are filled with our dreams and hopes and goals for the coming
year. But the question that the
Scriptures today invite us to reflect on is:
What are God’s plan for us this year?
Instead of focusing on our 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. How do we become more aware of God’s plan for
us in 2018? 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 2018: “I am the servant of the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word.”
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 uncertainty 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.
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.
Jesus enters
our life to give us His life; He comes into our world to give us His love. In 2018 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.
May the blessing that the Lord said
to Moses be the blessing the Lord speaks to each of us:
The Lord bless and keep you.
The Lord let his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you kindly and
give you peace.
Have a
blessed day and a blessed New Year.
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