Nm 6:22-27; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21
The Catholic Church joins the whole world in celebrating the beginning of a new Universal Calendar Year. We gather to celebrate the Eucharist in order to thank the Lord for all the graces of the past year and to ask Him to continue blessing our families and friends with love, joy and peace.
The Church assigns the first day of every year as the solemnity of Mary, the mother of God. Mary is not a goddess, but since she is the mother of Jesus who is “God became man”, she truly is the mother of God.
Being the mother of Jesus, Mary also became the mother of the Church. She is the ecclesial mother who will provide Christians with maternal care and protection throughout the year.
By honoring Mary on the first Calendar day, Christians are encouraged to emulate her example every day of the year. The Blessed Virgin is the model of a faithful disciple of Jesus. She is not only the first human being to receive the Word; she also is the first to follow Him.
A woman came out of her house and saw 3 old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said “I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat.
“Is the man of the house home?” they asked.
“No”, she replied. “He’s out.”
“Then we cannot come in”, they replied.
In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened.
“Go tell them I am home and invite them in!”
The woman went out and invited the men in.
“We do not go into a House together,” they replied.
“Why is that?" she asked.
One of the old men explained: “His name is Wealth,” he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, “He is Success, and I am Love.” Then he added, “Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home.”
The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. “How nice!” he said. “Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!”
His wife disagreed. “My dear, why don’t we invite Success?”
Their daughter was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: “Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!”
“Let us heed our daughter’s advice,” said the husband to his wife. “Go out and invite Love to be our guest.”
The woman went out and asked the 3 old men, “Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest.”
Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: “I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?”
The old men replied together: “If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would’ve stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!”
(The story is from an unknown author)
Like Mary, may we all welcome Jesus, the perfect embodiment of love, so that true joy and happiness will reign in our homes and in our hearts!
Happy New Year to all of us!
No comments:
Post a Comment