New Year Journeyed with Mary

Listening to the Spirit

Lord, thank you for the gift of Your Word so that all your people may know and love You more and understand You better.

As I go about my day may I not forget the scriptures you have opened up for me.

Help me to recognize how You want for me to apply Your Word to my daily life.

Holy Spirit, guided by Your Word, may You enlighten my mind and enkindle in my heart a greater love for You and for others in my family and in the world.

Amen.

Listening to the Word

Luke 2:16-21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Reflection

Happy New Year, everyone. Today, we are celebrating the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God.

The Gospel today presents Mary to us as a model of new life in Christ, which all of us wish for ourselves in the new year. We see that Mary was prepared to do something to realize this goal. What did she do? When they went to adore the Child Jesus in the manger, we read that the shepherds told all the angels had said to them. "But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). Again, after Jesus was found in the Temple, we are told that "His mother treasured all these things in her heart" (Luke 2:51). Mary was a woman who valued the word of God, who treasured it and made time to meditate and ponder it. Mary's holiness is indeed attributed to God's grace, but this should not make us forget that she needed to make an effort to cooperate with God's grace. She listened and pondered the word of God at every stage in her life as the handmaid of God.

The two examples above show us that Mary found the word of God both in divine revelation (the angel's words to the shepherds) and her own experiences (her encounter with her son in the Temple). Similarly, God speaks to us today through divine revelation (e.g., the Bible, the teaching and preaching of the Church) and our personal experiences, if only we made time to reflect on them as Mary did.

Whatever the situation we find ourselves in – a hardship, a disappointment, a decision to make – God has a solution, an answer that is right for us. We tell God in prayer, but we also listen to what God tells us. Prayer is a conversation with God; but sometimes all we do is pick up the phone, read out the list of our problems to God, and drop the phone without listening to what God has to say to us. Let us resolve to listen more to God's voice, treasure God's word, and ponder it in our hearts. Then we shall be able to realize our new year resolution of a new life in union with God.