NEW YEAR: SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

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NEW BEGINNINGS



Each New Year is a testimony that for God, the world does not end, for His love never ends. Our lives continue to be in God’s hands. God is not the God of terminations, but the God of beginnings.  He is the God of second chances, many chances, the God of opportunities to come.  Our God is the God of hope.  In him, hope for good things never runs dry.

In the New Year, the Lord reminds us how good his intentions are for our lives.  But he also challenges us to join him in transforming the world and making things new again. It is our job then, as Christians to make the year new by our fidelity to the Lord.

In the gospel (Luke 2), observe the two humble people surrounding the Child Jesus.  These two were the great cooperators of God in renewing the history of the world.  Joseph in his silence and obedience made the will of God the only center of his life.  Mary, with whose feast we open the year, willingly offered all her life so that God can enter and be part of our daily journey.

When people spoke of doom and saw only darkness, Mary and Joseph refused to join in their vain chorus.  Instead they offered themselves as vehicles of the beginning, instruments of God’s interaction with a desperate world.

Today is the New Year, not an end but a beginning.  This is our chance to welcome Jesus and contribute to his cause of changing the world, the church and our selves by opening our hearts to the love of God. This year, may we be prophets of hope, instruments of faith, living testimonies of love for others, starting with the people we live closely with. 

We begin not with doomsday predictions that fail.  We begin the year powerfully with prayer and blessings. Nothing can harm us.  Nothing can defeat us or pull us down.  Open your heart to this blessing from our first reading (Num 6): “The Lord bless you 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!”

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!


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