A New Time of Hope

The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

Reflecting on the Word

By Rev. James A. Wallace, C.Ss.R.

What do you seek in a new year? What blessing do you ask of God, who has  revealed the depth of divine love in the birth of Jesus? Consider the blessing  the Lord ordered Moses to give to Aaron and his sons to speak to the people of  Israel. God offered them a blessing that brings divine protection through God’s  gracious presence, revealing a God who intends to look kindly upon and give  peace to the chosen people. 

Our annual celebration of Christmas extends these same blessings into God’s  plan that we become adopted into the family of God by our birth in Christ  through baptism. We are given not only the freedom that comes from being made  children of God, taken up into a relationship allowing us to call God Abba (Father),  but also to consider ourselves as heirs and inheritors of our God’s kingdom when  we pass from this life to eternal life.

The name Jesus means “God saves.” This is the message of this season: God  became one of us to save us, to seek us out and bring us into communion with  the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are invited to think of ourselves  as part of the family of the Trinity. Mary is set before us every first day of the new  year as the woman who ponders this wonderful mystery of God-become-human  from the beginning. She gently extends to us an invitation to quiet reflection,  prayer, and praise. 

Consider/Discuss

  • Why do you think this feast of Mary was chosen for New Year’s Day?
  • Have you spent time “pondering” God’s gift of divine life to you,  given in baptism? 

Responding to the Word

Mary, mother of Jesus, God’s Son and our Savior, you were ever attentive to  what God was asking of you, keeping the law of Moses, but also open to hearing  and obeying God’s ongoing call in your life. Pray for us to be attentive to what  God will say and ask of us during this new year of grace. Amen.

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