Jan 1, 2011 - Sol. of Mary, the Mother of God / World Day of Peace - Let's Make this a Year of Making Peace

Readings - http://www.usccb.org/nab/010111.shtml

Every year, the Church celebrates January 1st as the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. Looking back, the Solemnity completes the Octave of Christmas and reminds us that Jesus, the Son of God, like everyone of us had a mother, Mary, who played a key role then in the Mystery of the Incarnation, the Mystery of Christ. Looking forward toward the New Year, we are offered Mary as an example of the Perfect Disciple, who said “yes” to God’s plan (Lk 1:38) and who tells us “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). So we remember Mary here for her role as Mother and Example to the Church.

That Jesus would have a mother would seem like a relatively small matter. Still, every single one of us are here because we had a mother who brought us into this world and mothers generally play a special role in our lives. They are usually our strongest defenders. They are often the last to give up on us. They model for us perhaps most perfectly God’s love for each of us. They are most likely to live out the words of St. Paul in 1st Corinthians “bearing all things, supporting all things, forgiving all things, believing all things,” and remind us truly that “in the end these three remain, faith hope and love and the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor 13:7,13)

So we shouldn’t be surprised then that we find Mary at the Foot of the Cross as Jesus is dying and Jesus then handing over his mother to us, for us to take care of, and for her to take care of us (John 19:25-27).

Mary is a bridge therefore between the Mystery of the (incarnation of) Christ and the Mystery of (the purpose/mission) of the Church, giving us much to reflect on, should we choose to do so, over the coming year, regarding both.

Finally, since at least the outbreak of World War II, the Church has honored January 1st as the World Day of Peace, reminding us _annually_ that our destiny is to live together as brothers and sisters, children of the same God at the same table in the same house, in peace.

We can choose to dismiss this annual reminder as pipe dream, but if we reflect at all on our faith, we must realize that this simply must ultimately be the case, or else our faith and really everything around us has no lasting value.

So then, let us then pray for peace. Let us choose to look for ways to bring us together rather than pull us apart, to diminish conflicts rather than make them worse, realizing that none of this is easy and that at least initially there will people who’ll consider us naive/stupid/etc for doing so. But ultimately _if we believe_, what else can we credibly do except to work for reconciliation and peace?

So God bless you all and let’s make this coming year, truly a year of following the example of Mary and making peace!