MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD
1 JANUARY 2023
As
we gather to celebrate the Eucharist today, we are very much aware of
time. It is on our minds that we have
turned the calendar page today. That is
why so many people are celebrating in Tim’s Square. They bid farewell to 2022 and greet the New
Year, 2023.
However, bidding farewell to the
old year and welcoming the new year is not the concern of Saint Paul as he
writes to the Galatians. Saint Paul
speaks of “the fullness of time.” He refers
to the birth of Jesus Christ. In the past, the original witnesses
encountered him and worshipped him as a vulnerable infant placed in a manger in
Bethlehem. On this last day of the
Octave of Christmas, Saint Paul speaks to us about “the fullness of time.” In the present,
we encounter Christ in the Mystery of the Incarnation. Saint Cyril of Alexandria says, “Jesus is
placed like fodder in a manger…. By now
approaching the manger, even his own table, we find no longer fodder, but the
bread from heaven, which is the body of life.”
We will also encounter Christ in the future. In the Prologue of his Gospel, Saint John says that Jesus
has pitched his tent with us and will continue to dwell with us throughout this
New Year.
Mary, the
Mother of God, helps us to understand how we have encountered her Son in the
past, how we are encountering her Son now, and how we will encounter him in
this New Year. Saint Luke tells us that
after the shepherds left glorifying and praising God, “Mary kept all these
things reflecting on them in her heart.”
This is not
the first time that Mary pondered or treasured or reflected on things in her
heart. It happened earlier when Gabriel
shared the news that she had been chosen to bear God’s Son. It will happen again when Joseph and Mary
take the child to be consecrated in the temple.
There, they will meet Simeon and Anna, who will confirm that the child
is the sign of salvation and the fulfillment of all their desires. It will happen a third time when Joseph and
Mary find their twelve-year-old son who had been lost in the temple. Even though she may not understand why her
Son felt at home in his “Father’s house,” she will keep all these things in her
heart.
Mary spent
a lifetime digesting all that had happened.
She reflected on her treasured memories and perplexing moments – of
angels and shepherds and old people and rabbis in the temple. She held them up to the light to deepen her
understanding. Her reflections helped
her to form her conscience and her actions.
They fueled her imagination for what God was doing. As Mary pondered these things, she grew in
the courage she would need to face whatever lay ahead for her and her Son.
Mary
invites us to ponder and reflect on our own experiences of her Son in the year
that we are leaving. If we have
encountered the mercy of Jesus, then we can reflect on how we can share that
mercy with those who are too hard on themselves. If we have encountered any kind of healing
from her Son, we can ponder how we can be part of the healing of the wounds of others. If we have encountered strength in an impossible
time, we can treasure how to share the light of Christ with someone dwelling in
darkness and fear. If we have
experienced the correction of someone who has had the courage to confront us
with love, then we can be part of the process of straightening the life of a
loved one making bad choices.
In our
digital age with 24/7 instant news and communication, it is easy to make snap
judgments and knee jerk reactions. Mary
can teach us how to embrace the Mystery of the Incarnation in our past, in our
present, and in our future. She teaches
us how to live in “the fullness of time”, no matter what happens to us in these
next 365 days that the calendar gives us.
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