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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