MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD
1 JANUARY 2021
When
the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the Mother
of God, he told her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with
God.” We can only speculate how Mary
felt when she faced the consequences of her humble acceptance of that
message. Did she feel highly favored
when she had to face the scorn of her neighbors in Nazareth for being pregnant
before marriage? How did she feel when
she had to give birth to her child in a smelly stable, or when she and Joseph
had to become exiles in Egypt, or even three decades later when she would see
her son executed among thieves before a jeering crowd? Although she certainly could not have felt blessed
in these difficult times, she trusted the angel and maintained her firm faith
that she truly was blessed: full of
grace.
Her
ancestors in the desert were also favored by God, but they were not without
sin. God had freed them from captivity
and chose Moses to lead them through the desert. When they were confronted with hardships and
dangers, they complained and sought blessings from other gods. That is why Moses reminds them in the first
reading that they are truly blessed, truly favored by God’s action in their
lives.
Mary needs
no reminder. Despite the obstacles
thrown into her path, she remains mindful of being blessed by God. She sees through the darkness to trust the
angel’s message. Mary keeps this focus,
because she keeps all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
We are more
like the ancestors of Mary than we care to admit. Even though we are truly blessed by being
baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ, we can lose hope and turn to other sources
of comfort and consolation. As we
conclude the Octave of Christmas today, Mary invites us to renew our faith in
the Incarnation, the Mystery of God taking on human flesh. If God can come amid the shame and straw in a
place smelling of dung, then God can come everywhere. This Mystery does not end with this
Solemnity. God continues to dwell in our
midst.
Mary
teaches us how to maintain this faith without getting discouraged. Like Mary, we must keep all these things in
our hearts. That can be difficult in an
era of instant communication and twenty-four hour news coverage. We need to resist the temptations of
responding immediately to Facebook and Twitter.
We need to be sure to separate the truth from so many allegations. Like Mary, we must reflect on our lives in
prayer, not responding immediately to the latest “breaking news,” but
reflecting on the events of our lives in our hearts. For months now, we have
been asking Mary’s intercession as we face the darkness and uncertainty of this
pandemic. As we enter into this New
Year, she will not abandon us, as she shows us how to hope in the Nativity of
her Son. This year is the “Year of
Prayer” at Saint Pius. With prayer, we
can see through the darkness to trust that we are blessed by God.
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