Happy New Year everyone! I hope and pray that this new year holds many blessings for you, that it is a time of grace and healing and light and peace for you and your families and the whole world, that we might all turn back again to God and follow Jesus ever more faithfully.
"Hail, holy Mother! The Child to whom you gave birth is the King of heaven and earth for ever"
With this ancient greeting, today, the first of the year 2008, the Church greets the Blessed Virgin Mary, invoking her as Mother of God. The celebration of Christmas is a welcome to Jesus our Life, our hope and our Peace.
If Jesus is Life, Mary is the Mother of Life.
If Jesus is Hope, Mary is the Mother of Hope.
If Jesus is Peace, Mary is the Mother of Peace, Mother of the Prince of Peace.
Pope John Paul II has declared New Year’s Day to be World Peace Day, and every year he writes a long letter to the world, and I would like to offer an excerpt of his message:
“All of you, hear the humble appeal of one who cries out: today at the beginning of the new year, peace remains possible. And if peace is possible, it is also a duty. Humanity needs now more than ever to rediscover the path of concord, overwhelmed as it is by selfishness and hatred, by the thirst for power and the lust for vengeance.”
Let us reflect on peace in this climate of widespread anxiety on account of the recent tragic events that have shaken the world. The terror attacks, violence, dirty politics, oppressions, attacks on the family, human rights violations, attacks on the innocent lives both of the aged and the unborn. the The fear of war among nations and the various calamities all over the world from Flash floods, hurricanes, drought and forest fires. But although it may seem humanly difficult to look to the future with optimism, we must not give in to the temptation to despair. On the contrary, we must work for peace courageously, certain that evil will not prevail believing firmly that God sends us his blessings.
The Bible talks about blessing in different ways. St. Paul says to the Christians of Ephesus, "Blessed be the God who had blessed us." The purpose of the blessing is to thank and praise God for the undeserved blessings God gives us.
Luke goes on to say that Mary "treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart." This is also a response to God’s blessing. In her own quiet way she surely made it apparent to others how much her life had been blessed by God.
Again the Bible talks about people blessing people. When we bless one another and our world, we share in the life-giving power of God and the divine responsibility to care for all life. We bless one another within a community of faith. Blessings stretch us to go beyond ourselves.
Finally, the Bible talks about people blessing things. Thus Jesus blesses bread. The purpose of the blessing is to make bread holy in a special way for the benefit of his followers.
"Hail, holy Mother! The Child to whom you gave birth is the King of heaven and earth for ever"
With this ancient greeting, today, the first of the year 2008, the Church greets the Blessed Virgin Mary, invoking her as Mother of God. The celebration of Christmas is a welcome to Jesus our Life, our hope and our Peace.
If Jesus is Life, Mary is the Mother of Life.
If Jesus is Hope, Mary is the Mother of Hope.
If Jesus is Peace, Mary is the Mother of Peace, Mother of the Prince of Peace.
Pope John Paul II has declared New Year’s Day to be World Peace Day, and every year he writes a long letter to the world, and I would like to offer an excerpt of his message:
“All of you, hear the humble appeal of one who cries out: today at the beginning of the new year, peace remains possible. And if peace is possible, it is also a duty. Humanity needs now more than ever to rediscover the path of concord, overwhelmed as it is by selfishness and hatred, by the thirst for power and the lust for vengeance.”
Let us reflect on peace in this climate of widespread anxiety on account of the recent tragic events that have shaken the world. The terror attacks, violence, dirty politics, oppressions, attacks on the family, human rights violations, attacks on the innocent lives both of the aged and the unborn. the The fear of war among nations and the various calamities all over the world from Flash floods, hurricanes, drought and forest fires. But although it may seem humanly difficult to look to the future with optimism, we must not give in to the temptation to despair. On the contrary, we must work for peace courageously, certain that evil will not prevail believing firmly that God sends us his blessings.
The Bible talks about blessing in different ways. St. Paul says to the Christians of Ephesus, "Blessed be the God who had blessed us." The purpose of the blessing is to thank and praise God for the undeserved blessings God gives us.
Luke goes on to say that Mary "treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart." This is also a response to God’s blessing. In her own quiet way she surely made it apparent to others how much her life had been blessed by God.
Again the Bible talks about people blessing people. When we bless one another and our world, we share in the life-giving power of God and the divine responsibility to care for all life. We bless one another within a community of faith. Blessings stretch us to go beyond ourselves.
Finally, the Bible talks about people blessing things. Thus Jesus blesses bread. The purpose of the blessing is to make bread holy in a special way for the benefit of his followers.
When we gather as a faith community, we give thanks for the blessings that we have received. And we become ever more aware of the blessings we are for one another. We are encouraged to bless one another, especially in our families and with our loved ones. We may often think of blessing as something reserved for priests, but it belongs to all of us as children of God. Parents might bless their children each night at bedtime. Husbands and wives might bless each other as a morning goodbye before the day’s activities. Friends might learn to greet one another with simple blessing, recognizing the great gift of friendship in our hectic world.
On this New Year’s Day, to thank and praise God for some undeserved, special gift. This leads us to two practical conclusions: First, as we close out the old year, we should thank God for blessing us during the past year. The second practical conclusion is besides counting our blessings from God during the year, we should consider sharing some of our blessings with others during the coming year. For this is how we bless God for having blessed us. Let’s take a true to life example.
Entering the new year, let us ask this holy Mother to bless us. Let us ask Her to give us Jesus, our full Blessing, in whom the Father blessed all history once and for all, making it become the history of salvation. Let us the imitate Mary, the Mother of God, her life is a blessing to all humanity.
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