Merry Christmas and happy new year to you all. This is a day of multiple themes: It is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and it is World Day of Prayer for Justice and Peace, it is the beginning of the month of the Holy Face of Jesus, and it is the beginning of the new calendar year.
It also is the last day of the Octave of Christmas. And so we remember with joy the role of Mary as the small “m” mother. The image of the mother of the baby Jesus holding her child in her arms is comforting and encouraging. In a few months we will see the image of this mother holding her adult son in her arms after he was taken down from the cross. These images reveal the breadth of a mother’s love and remind us that the child born in Bethlehem, that God became man, for a purpose, our salvation. Mary was at his side all along the way. Today she remains at his side as Mother to him, to us, to the Church for she always points us to her son.
The Gospel reading describes the visit of the shepherds and then tells us that Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Another translation says she treasured them. To reflect on something is to ponder it, wonder about it, allowing it to interact with our thoughts, our hopes, our memories, our dreams. Someone suggested that Mary pondered her calling, the birth of her son, the life of the Holy Family, the passion, death and resurrection, the institution of the Church, that she did so with “contemplative wonder.” Ah that I could ponder all that happens in my life, in the world, and in my heart with “contemplative wonder” which means with gratitude for the blessings, with strength in the midst of the sorrows, and with trust in God’s will and God’s way.
What did Mary ponder and treasure when the shepherds visited: the child in her arms, the love and understanding of Joseph, the homage and the joy of the shepherds, the beauty of the star, the peace of the moment, the special role announced to her by the angel which with humility and trust she accepted, with wonder about the new day to come? Perhaps she asked as any mother likely would do, what will become of this newborn, what will God yet ask of me?
On this holy day we recognize Mary not only as mother of this child born in Bethlehem but Mary as the Mother of God, capital “M”, for her son while fully human was also fully divine. Her model of discipleship and her role as God’s instrument are great blessings and signs of hope for us on our spiritual journeys.
We also recognize Mary as Queen of Peace. Today as has been declared by Popes for fifty years is world day of prayer for justice and peace.
The many apparitions of our Lady over the centuries always include her prayer for reconciliation and peace. Reconciliation and peace require unity and respect for one another. On my recent pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico I stood on the spot where she appeared to Saint Juan Diego and declared: “I am your merciful mother. The merciful mother of all of you . . . and of all mankind.”
How we need peace in the world. There is such hatred and violence in the Middle East, Europe and all round the world. How we need peace in our own country – in schools, on the streets, in shopping malls, in the nation’s capital where charity and civility seem to have gone on leave and the common good replaced with the race toward achieving only my personal good. How we need peace in our homes and within our families – including our spiritual families of parish and diocese. Let us pray in a special way for peace for those Christians around the world who are persecuted resulting in loss of life, of home, or livelihood and of country because of their fidelity to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
I recall having been in the Sistine Chapel at St. Peter’s in Rome. It is filled with awe inspiring sacred art and is heavy with history, including the selection of popes for many centuries. It was teeming with people. The noise was deafening. Every once in a while the announcement would be made: silencio, silencio, as if to say quiet down, you are in sacred space. Briefly the sound would soften, and then the unholy noise of tourists not pilgrims would rise again. That is an image of the world in which we live, teeming with clatter and distractions that can lead us astray from what is sacred, just and moral.
On this first day of the year, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, world day of prayer for justice and peace, perhaps we might experience a brief moment to ponder what is happening in our lives, to treasure those special blessings that lift our spirit, and to look back on last year with gratitude but also contrition and to look forward with hope.
In the first reading from the Old Testament Book of Numbers is the beautiful priestly blessing which Aaron the high priest, brother of Moses, prayed over the Israelites as they prepared to journey out of the desert of discontent toward the unknown new and the Promised Land. It is my prayer for each of you and for our diocese in this New Year:
“The Lord bless and keep you, the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace.”
Mary, Mother of Jesus, Mother of God, Mother of the Church, and Mother of us all, please pray for us and for a new year filled with greater peace and charity. Hold us in your loving arms and carry us to your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.