New Year's Day/ Feast of Mary, Mother of God (B)

Nm 6:22-27; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21

A young man at a New Year’s party turns to his friend and asks for a cigarette. 

"I thought you made a New Year’s resolution to quit smoking," his friend says. 

"I'm in the process of quitting", the man says. "Right now, I am in the middle of phase one." 

"What's phase one?" 

"I've quit buying."

(The story is from an unknown author)

The first month of the year is named after the Roman god Janus, the deity with two faces, one looking to the past and the other looking to the future. The first day or days of January is a time to look back at the year that has just ended and to look forward to the New Year ahead of us. In relation to this, many of us, got used to making New Year's resolutions -- promises that we often make every New Year with the intention of breaking bad habits and becoming better persons.

It was the great Socrates who says, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” A person’s life is only meaningful when it is regularly examined with the purpose of growing towards maturity in all of life’s dimensions. We have to review our lives from year to year in order to set our goals and resolutions for the years ahead. Actually, we are encouraged to examine and plan our life on a daily basis. However, every New Year is a special opportunity to scrutinize more deeply our life – to humbly recognize mistakes and failures and to find ways and means to make reparations, to grow and become better persons.

The examination/planning must be done prayerfully and holistically. It has to include our physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual dimensions. We need to check the amount of effort and time we invested for a particular task. How did we manage our time considering the demands of work, family, friends and community and the demands of our spiritual life? Some of us might have invested much time and effort to advance in business or carrier to the neglect of one’s time for the family. Others may have given much time and energy to fulfill one’s obligation to the community but have taken the self for granted. We need to remind ourselves that the important thing in life is not excellence but balance. A mature or a holy person is one who has enough time for self, others, nature and for God.

The first day of the year is the solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. This is a fitting reminder that we have to live our life as disciples of Jesus under the guidance and protection of Mary, our Mother. 

During her lifetime on earth, Mary had experienced life’s joys and sorrows. There were times when she was deeply troubled and there were events that she could hardly accept and understand. Nevertheless, from the mystery of the annunciation to the suffering, death and resurrection of her Son, Mary had developed a habit of treasuring and pondering things in her heart.  She pondered the word of God in order to discern what God was saying to her at every event and circumstance of her life.

All of us are called to follow the example of the Blessed Mother. God continues to speak to us through the Word of the Bible, the teaching of the Catholic Church, as well as through our daily experiences in life. Like Mary, we need to give time to reflect on our personal experiences and to see in them God’s will in our lives. What does God want me to see in the painful experience of losing a loved one? What does God want me to learn from my broken marriage? What does God want me to do now that I am losing my business or carrier? If we are able to reflect prayerfully, we surely will find answers that could give us interior joy and peace.

The prayer of Thomas Merton is meaningful for this time of the year:

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where I will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. 

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are with me, and will never leave me to face my perils alone.