Year: 2024

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Gospel: John 1: 19-28

This is the testimony of John. 
When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him
to ask him, “Who are you?”
he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,
“I am not the Christ.” 
So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?” 
And he said, “I am not.” 
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.” 
So they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? 
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’
as Isaiah the prophet said.” 
Some Pharisees were also sent. 
They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” 
John answered them,
“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” 
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“Who are you?” This was what every Jew and scholar of the Law wanted to know about John the Baptist. 

“Who are you? Why are you here? What’s your purpose?”

Questions we all ask about ourselves.

While the answer for each person is unique, there are four things we can all say about ourselves.

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We are loved by God. So loved that Jesus offers himself for us on a cross.

We are irreplaceable. There never has been and never will be another you. God makes each human being with a unique fingerprint, a singular combination of gifts, talents, personality, and purpose.

We are part of God’s family, the Church. Therefore, we are never alone; we are all parts of a greater whole.

We are a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Through baptism, God makes his home within us. It’s this Spirit who teaches, guides, sanctifies, and supports us through life.

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So, “Who are you?”

We are unique, created with a singular purpose, like John the Baptist.

Take a few moments today to bring this to prayer. Ask the Lord to reveal why he created you – and what purpose he’s given you today.

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Image credits: (1) Baptism of Our Lord, Andrea Verrocchio (2) Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (3) Upside-Down Savior

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Gospel: Luke 2: 16-21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,  
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,  
they made known the message  
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed  
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things,  
reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned,  
glorifying and praising God  
for all they had heard and seen,  
just as it had been told to them.  

When 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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today we celebrate a new year, and in that sense, a new beginning. In particular, we celebrate a new beginning for Mary as she becomes a mother for the first time. 

Becoming a first-time parent must be thrilling, something that some of you have also experienced. 

I’d imagine it involves a mixture of emotions: a feeling of incredible joy having created a life, and at the same time a feeling of fear, even inadequacy, wondering how you might provide for your little child. 

I’m sure Mary felt these same emotions – joy, fear, inadequacy, hope. But she was not the mother of an ordinary child; she is the mother of God himself. 

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The Gospel tells us that Mary pondered the events of the past nine months in her heart – the appearance of the angel Gabriel, the acceptance of Saint Joseph, John the Baptist leaping in Elizabeth’s womb at the sound of her voice.

Mary pondered it all.

To ponder literally means to, “stitch together.” 

Mary didn’t have the answer to all of her questions; so, she did what we all do. In the silence of her heart, she tried stitching together the meaning of her life.

Why would God choose her to be his mother? How could God become a baby? How could she protect Jesus from evil? What will her child become?

Such questions must’ve only intensified as she and Joseph carried the Christ-child into Egypt, where they remained as refugees until the death of Herod.

Something tells me Mary pondered throughout her life. Imagine her watching Jesus grow into adolescence, making friends, perhaps learning the trade of carpentry from Joseph.

“When will Jesus share his full identity with the world?” she might’ve wondered. “What will happen to him when he does? What will happen to her as his mother?”

Then at the foot of the Cross, she must’ve asked the question we all ask when we suffer; “Why???”

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The fact that Mary didn’t know it all, that she clung to fragments of God’s plan, that she was left to ponder – to stitch together – the meaning of it all makes her human, like every one of us.

Often Catholics are encouraged to turn to Mary for her strength and intercession, but today’s feast also reminds us to emulate her trust, especially when we don’t understand.

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My favorite prayer for trust is called the Suscipe by Saint Ignatius of Loyola. I pray it every morning before Mass, when the Lord places himself into my hands, much like he entrusted himself to Mary:

Take, Lord, receive

My liberty, my memory, my understanding,

My entire will,

All that I have and call my own.

You have given all to me,

To you, Lord, I return it.

Do with it what you will.

Give me only your love and your grace,

That is enough for me.

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As we begin a new year, may Mary, the Mother of God, pray for us – that we would emulate her absolute trust and abandonment to God’s will.

Give us only your love and your grace, Lord, that is enough.

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Image credits: (1) Botticelli, The Virgin and Child (2) Blessed Virgin Mary, Botticelli (3) Archdiocese of Toronto