"And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."
– Luke 2:19
LIKE A GIANT PUZZLE
Do
you know how big the largest jigsaw puzzle in the world is? It has
24,000 pieces! And you can buy it for P20,000 to do this puzzle, which I
think I’ll be able to finish in 300 years.
Here’s
my message: Your past is like a giant jigsaw puzzle – and God is
putting the pieces together to make a beautiful picture of your future.
But your special jigsaw puzzle has billions of pieces. And each event in your past is like one piece of the puzzle.
Each piece makes no sense. On its own, it means nothing. It only means
something if you put them together. Once you put them together, you say,
“Aha!”
There are some pieces that are so dark, you’d wonder, “What use is this
particular dark piece?” But each dark piece has a purpose. Without
those dark pieces, the puzzle won’t be complete.
As God worked in Mary’s life, so does He work in ours. Let us allow
Him to shape us in a particular way through the circumstances that
happen to us.
The past year may not have been perfect, but it is perfect for God’s purpose. Bo Sanchez
1ST READING
One
of the most important aspects of the character of God that we need to
remember is that He always desires the best for each and every one of
us; He always desires to bless us. We do not deserve His unmitigated
kindness but that is of no account to Him – He gave it to us anyway. As
we begin the New Year, let us resolve to be open to Him many blessings
in our lives and be grateful for them.
Numbers 6: 22-27
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23”Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them, ‘This how you shall bless the Israelites.’ Say to them, 24The Lord bless you and keep you! 25The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! 26The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace! 27So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
P S A L M
Psalm 67: 2-3, 5, 6, 8
R: May God bless us in his mercy.
1[2]May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us. 2[3]So may your way be known upon the earth; among all nations, your salvation. (R) 4[5]May the nations be glad and exult because you rule the peoples in equity; the nations on earth you guide. 5[6]May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you! (R) 7[8]May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him! (R)
2ND READING
Again,
we hear of God’s blessing for us, this time of His Son sent to be our
Redeemer. Perhaps one of our greatest sins is our blindness to the many
blessings God bestows upon us. Perhaps a good way to begin this year
would to pray for the grace of gratitude, particularly god God’s
blessings. True gratitude is the sign of a person who understands the
depths to which we are beholden to others for their goodness to us,
especially to God.
Galatians 4; 4-7
4Brothers and sisters: When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6As proof that you are sons, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir, through God.
GOSPEL
Another
sign of gratitude is the willingness to reflect upon the good things of
God in our lives and acknowledge properly their origin. A part of
gratitude is the willingness to respond to another’s goodness. There is
an old saying: “One good turn deserves another.” This is a partial
understanding of what gratitude is. Are we willing to respond to God’s
many blessings in our lives? If so, how?
Luke 2:16-21
16The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found May and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. 17When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. 18All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. 19And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. 20Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. 21When
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
MARY: MOTHER OF GOD AND OUR MOTHER
A blessed and grace-filled 2014 to you and all your loved ones!
You may be asking, what will this year bring to you? Do I sense some
anxiety behind this question? If so, it’s understandable because, in the
past, we have experienced not only good things. A loved one might have
died. Problems, personal and otherwise, might have beset us. The daily
news about terrorist attacks, wars, massacres, typhoons and earthquakes
all over the world just add to our anxiety.
And so we ask with some anxiety: What will this year bring – for me,
for my loved one, for our society, and for the world?
How meaningful and consoling it is that the Church presents to us, on
this first day of the year, a feast of the Blessed Mother under the
title “Mother of God.” When she stood at the foot of the cross of her
Son, her maternal vocation and mission received another dimension. With
the lines, “Woman, behold you Son” and “Behold your Mother,” Jesus gave
His Mother to His future community, represented by John. Here, the
Mother of God became our Mother!
Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, is the best mother one can ever
imagine. She was always close to her Son – from the moment she
conceived Him in her womb until He died in agony. She was never far
away!
In the same way, Mary cares for us, her children. Many of us have experienced her maternal closeness and help.
What will this year bring? A consoling answer emerges from today’s
feast: it will be another year with our heavenly Mother! Another year
full of problems, but we are never left alone. The Blessed Mother
journeys with us through all our experiences this year. Especially in
times of danger, she will be close by. When we feel weak, she will give
us strength. When we ask why certain things are happening to us, she
will tell us: “You will understand later, as I, too, understood God’s
plan much later. Just trust in Him as I trusted, and everything will
turn out right.” Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD
"Mary, Mother of God and my Mother,
accompany me and my loved ones this year. With you at our side, we can
face whatever is God’s plan for us."
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