LET'S BEGIN THE NEW YEAR WITH MARY!

January 01, 2011

SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

New Year's Day

World Peace Day

Nm 6,22-27 . Gal 4,4-7

Lk 2,16-21

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Perhaps, the most anticipated and most prepared-for day of the year is when we welcome it on January 01. The excitement to start anew with a smile on our lips and hope in our hearts motivates us to begin another year full of graces and challenges alike. So before I begin this reflection, let me greet you a very peaceful and prosperous 2011 ahead for you, and your family and friends.

Well, let me ask you. How did you start your New Year? With the company of family and friends? In the revelry of fireworks and bottomless food and drinks? Did you spend the whole night jumping, or eating the twelve fruits on the table? Did you find time to give your parents and family a hug? Did you begin it by making a sign of the Cross and a little prayer before everything else? How did you begin the New Year?

We all have our different strategies in welcoming the New Year. Nevertheless, we start this year anew and leave the old one in the grace of God. With Mary, His Mother, we invoke His grace for us to have true peace in the world for the year to come.  


Anno Domini 2011...

Well, as we know of it, today is not the beginning of the year in our Liturgical Calendar; our New Year began on the First Sunday of Advent, that was Nov. 28, 2010. Still, the Church, through Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, recognized this day, January 1 of each passing year, as the beginning of the Civil Year. In fact, the calendar which we are using today is known as the Gregorian Calendar, named after his honor.

We also hear of the Roman god Janus. Being the two-headed god of beginnings and endings, he is regarded as the Roman god of time. His two faces look in two opposite directions, like one face is taking a glimpse of the past, the other heading towards the future. He serves as everybody's example in going on with each passing year; leaving the old one and moving on with the new. That's also the reason why the first month is called January.


Well, I've mentioned Mary in the beginning of this reflection. Today is also a very special day offered in her honor. Aside from the start of a New Year, we also celebrate today the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. We look on today's Gospel passage and read thus,

Mary had kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

Through the council held at Ephesus, the whole Church acclaims Mary as the Theotokos, the God-bearer, who bore Him in her womb for nine months, and gave birth to him on the lonely night, witnessed by the shepherds. Through this, the Savior, the Emmanuel was brought to being in this world, being one with us on all things but not sin.

When we speak of Mary as the Mother of God, we speak of Mary as the Mother who gave birth to Jesus the God-made-man. She who had been conceived without sin, she who gave her fiat to the archangel has all the right to be made known as the Mother of God. As St. Cyril of Alexandria said, "For if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, how is the holy Virgin who gave (Him) birth, not (Theotokos)?" 

But though she is experiencing quite acclaim in our times, we look at her and see her reflect on all these things. She took all these in her heart and pondered from it. Never taking everything for granted, never boasting whatever grace she received from God. She just sits on a corner, and meditate on the wondrous events deep within her heart.She is truly an example of a humble and caring mother who would always do everything for her child; a Mother who always reflects on the wonders of God to man.

But Mary is our Mother too! She always looks after our care and guides us in our every endeavor in life. Maybe, another reason why this day is dedicated to Mary is because we entrust our whole year to her Motherly Protection. We know that she would never let us down, and leave us whenever we are down. Her care was tried-and-tested by God (through Jesus) and man (through St. Joseph). And so, the whole year would be sure to be a year of graces and blessings if we entrust it to her guidance.


As we start the Year 2011, we continually ask the Lord that whatever joy we felt as we welcomed the New Year would extend to the next 364 days. We pray to Mary, the Theotokos, that we may be an instrument of peace to others. We start the year by entrusting it to her care, knowing that as she gave birth and cared for the Son of God in the flesh, she would also take care of our frail beings, and lead us to her son, Jesus.

So, let me ask you again? How did you begin your New Year? It would simply be better if we begin it with the things that would guide and form us to become a holy and new person. I have a good suggestion. LET'S BEGIN THE NEW YEAR WITH MARY! 

Happy New Year 2011!