In some parts of our country and many places throughout the world there is a custom which takes place on January 1^st.  In those localities children are expected to return home and receive a blessing from their parents.  It is a lovely custom, mothers and fathers placing their hands on their children’s head whether their children are 5 years, 15 years or 50 years old.  This custom is an invitation to you and me to begin this New Year with a blessing.

This certainly seems to be the mind of the church because on this first day of the New Year our first reading is a blessing, the famous blessing of Aaron from the book of Numbers.  This is an ancient Jewish blessing.  We can trace it back some 800 years before Christ’s birth.  The blessing is simple and strong: “May the Lord bless you and keep you.  May the Lord’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you.  May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” The blessing is filled with powerful imagery: shining one’s face on someone is a way of expressing delight on the person who is beheld.  This blessing tells us that God delights in us and in our presence.  Lifting up one’s countenance to another person is a way of saying that the gaze creates a bond.  This prayer tells us that there is a bond between us and God that cannot be broken.  This blessing of Aaron is a beautiful blessing, and we should make it our own.

And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart…

And not just Mary, but all mothers do this:
they store up memories of their children:
to keep them, hold on to them, to treasure them
lest they ever be lost.
And not just mothers, but all of us.
We all keep memories in our hearts,
continuing to reflect on them
as the months and years and decades go by.

I’m wondering this weekend, this New Year’s weekend,
what memories of 2016 you and I are keeping, storing,
holding in our hearts?

Was 2016 a good year or a hard year?
a happy year or a sad year?
a year of health or a year of illness?
a year of gain or a year of loss?
a year of pain or a year of peace?

Did the year just past seem to fly by
or did it creep at a snail’s pace?

Our physical hearts have only four chambers
but our souls’ hearts have many more than four.

Peace is the gift we received on this day of the birth of the messiah. The entire message of Jesus Christ in his ministry is that of forgiveness in order to restore peace. The message of the angels to the shepherds in the fields reechoed the peace heralded by the birth; ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to men who enjoy his favour.’ (Luke 2:14). Peace is the benefit of His birth, a salvation that humanity earnestly yearn especially in the twenty-first century that is characterized by terrifying violence. As beneficiaries of the Christian life, the world expects us to be great ambassadors of peace. Why are human relations so prone to violence? The violence we experience today are the unresolved crisis of human relations. The Christian involvement in evil is classified by S. Mark Heim as a dilemma between a distortion of the faith and the gospel and a natural expression of it. (Heim, Mark: Saved From Sacrifice: A theology of the cross. Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Company, 2006: 260). Thus it becomes imperative to reflect on the Christian response to crisis inspired by the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Mary was a human being, a human being conceived without sin, but still a human being. But when we say the Hail Mary, we pray, “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen.” Why? Why does she, a human, hold the title of Mother of God? To answer this we have to consider both the What and the Who of her son. What her son is, and Who her son is. The what question refers to nature. If a flying saucer landed and a slimy little green creature got out, I’d ask, “What are you?” Maybe, he’d say, “A Martian.” Anyway, he might then say to me, “What are you?” and I would say, “A human being.” If he pointed to Fido and asked, “What is that?” I’d say, “A dog.” Now, if we were to ask, “What is Jesus Christ?” it would be insufficient to say, “A man” and it would be insufficient to say, “God.” The correct answer would be: He is two, God and man. That is what we mean when we say Jesus has a human nature and a divine nature.

Now, lets go back to that flying saucer. If the slimy green guy, asked me, “Who are you?” I would have to answer, Joseph Pellegrino. If I were to ask him, “Who are you?”, the slimy green guy would answer something like, “I’m Ming from Mongo.” If we were to ask, “Who is Jesus?” the correct answer is “the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.” The Eternal Word of God did not cease being Who He Is after the incarnation. That is why we say, Mary is the Mother of God. So, as far as nature, what is concerned, Mary is the mother of the human nature of the Lord. As far as person is concerned, who she is mother of, Mary is the mother of the one Divine Person of the Lord. That is why we pray, “Holy Mary, Mother of God.”

Today is the celebration of the greatest joy. A baby is born into the world, but it is not the usual kind of birth. We all know the story of the angels rejoicing. This is, in part, because what they had accepted from before time began when the angels were tested has now come to pass: the eternal, infinite, omnipotent God has become a weak human baby born in time with a finite nature. A virgin is a mother; the Creator is created; the Baby is born in a miraculous manner without the normal opening of the womb. There is much to marvel at in this mystery.

However, what we have to marvel at the most is the depth of the love of God for us. So often we struggle with the question of whether or not God really loves us. After all, we have offended Him so often, we have done so many unloving things, that we think ourselves unlovable. So, Love Himself came to us in a way that we could grasp, in a way that is the reflection of love that all of us can automatically understand. When we look at a baby, the child is the tangible, enfleshed love of the mother and father. This Child is no different. He is the love of God in human form because He is God in human form and God is love.

In an age where so much of modern narrative seems centered around how traditional patriarchal society has robbed women of their rightful place and privilege, the issue of motherhood remains contentious. The debate between pro-life and pro-choice camps can be reduced to a woman’s procreative rights, her right to choose, “to be” or “not to be” a mother. For those who insist on separating their femininity from motherhood, being a mother seems like another form of shackling by a male-dominated society. But for those who come to recognise that all life, even that of a newly conceived baby in the womb, is precious and sacred, then being a mother is the greatest privilege and crown of their womanhood.

Motherhood reflects the glory of God. It is the particularly feminine shape of holiness that women of faith strive for. When Saint Paul says that women are “saved through childbearing” (1 Timothy 2:15), he does not mean that women can earn their salvation by giving birth, but that God is able to save them even as they endure the feminine part of sin’s curse (Genesis 3:16). Childbearing symbolises the creational role of women because motherhood is the clearest example of the difference between men and women.

Celebrating Mary, Mother of God at the beginning of the year is like initiating us to sing in tune throughout this year which we begin. Mary inspires us with the disposition we need in order to live in faith and trust in God. Mary lived her faith in God with a certain depth. She “…treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” She knew how to savour and cherish the events of her life as places of encounter with God. To live fruitfully the grace of this new year that the Lord gives us we too ought to learn to ponder over the events of our life.

We live in the world that seems to be moving in a fast-forward mode. Every minute we are bombarded with pieces of information of what’s happening around the globe. Hardly do we find time to masticate in order to draw from them nourishing nutrients. And if we can’t break them down we can’t store them well either. The depth of Mary’s faith in God lies in her capacity to listen and to ponder over the great deeds of the Lord in her life. We pray that we too may be able to live this year with depth in order to be aware of the guiding hand of God  who is ever present in our lives, even during those moments when things may not seem that bright for us.

I will like to begin this great day by wishing you all a Happy and Peaceful New Year. I pray that the Lord Jesus may enrich our lives during the New Year with an abundance of God’s blessings. One theme that comes out powerfully today, especially in our First Reading and Responsorial psalm is BLESSING. As we begin a new year we will love to have God’s blessings to move along with us all through the year. As we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, we also seek her intercession. The angel reminded Mary that she was Blessed among women. We also pray to receive same blessings. A blessing is the infusion of something with holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will. The opposite of Blessing is Curse. In its strictly liturgical sense, blessing may be described as a rite, consisting of a ceremony and prayers performed in the name and with the authority of the Church by a duly qualified minister, by which persons or things are sanctified as dedicated to Divine service, or by which certain marks of Divine favour are invoked upon them

Throughout sacred Scripture, we find how God issued various blessings. In the account of creation, God blessed all the living creatures and especially Adam and Eve, telling them to be fertile, to multiply and to full the earth and subdue it (Gn 1:22, 28). After the flood, God blessed Noah and his sons (Gn 9:1ff).

The first reading in this first day of the year begins with the blessing that the Lord Gave Moses for the Israelites. This is indeed the blessing that God gives to all humankind: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine on you be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.”

Christ entrusted His saving ministry to the Church. Because of this the Church has instituted various blessings for people as well as objects to prompt the faithful to implore God’s protection, divine assistance, mercy, faithfulness, and favour. On this note, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1669) states, “Every baptized person is called to be a ‘blessing,’ and to bless. Hence lay people may preside at certain blessings; the more a blessing concerns ecclesial and sacramental life, the more is its administration reserved to the ordained ministry (bishops, priests, or deacons)”

Priests are the ordinary ministers of blessings, asking God’s help for those people being blessed or dedicating something to a sacred service; the priest’s blessing is imparted with the weight of the Church and therefore has great value in the eyes of God. The blessing of a layperson upon another, such as a parent blessing a child, is an act of goodwill whereby the person implores God’s aid for the person; the value of this blessing in the eyes of God depends upon the person’s individual sincerity and sanctity.

At the beginning of this year, we recommend that parents should pronounce blessings to children in their home. Of all the tools God gave you to raise a child, the most powerful is your tongue. Here’s how to use it for good. From the opening words of the Bible, the power of the spoken word is in evidence. In essence, words are not only the means by which creation is made, but they are also the substance—the stuff—of which the tangible realm is shaped. “And God said” appears in the Genesis text; and the next thing, what God said appears in our world. Proverbs 18:21 teaches us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Early in the Bible, the power of God’s people to speak blessing upon one another is clearly shown. Noah blesses Shem and Japheth for their respect, rather than mockery, of his dignity as their father (see Gen. 9:26-27). You Have the Power to bless! Always use numbers 6: 22-27 to bless your children: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine on you be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.”

Happy New Year!!!

At the beginning of the baptism ceremony, the priest (or deacon) welcomes the child with a sign of the cross on the baby’s forehead. He then invites the parents and godparents to also mark their child with the same sign of our Savior. During the baptism homily I always encourage the parents – and godparents – to continue that practice. When the mom places the child in the crib, she can call to the dad to bless his child. Then she does the same. This blessing has great power.

Once I was with a family who had blessed their children every day. The oldest son was now leaving the home to go to college. At the moment of parting, the mom and dad made the sign of the cross over her son. The parents, particularly the dad, were not great talkers. In fact, they kept things pretty close to their chest, but they had blessed their children every day. They had a bond more powerful than words.

Today Moses instructs Aaron on how to give a blessing. The words are simple:

The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon
you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and
give you peace!

Happy New Year! As we continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we turn our attention today to his mother Mary, but we continue to focus on Jesus as well. We give various titles to Jesus such as Savior, Christ, Messiah, Lord, Son of Man, and each of these titles expresses an aspect of our understanding of Jesus. In the same way we give many titles to Our Lady – there is a long list of them in the Litany of Our Lady of Loreto – and the title we celebrate today, “Mother of God,” and the title “Blessed Virgin,” are the two oldest titles given to Our Lady. In one sense, the title Mother of God says more about Jesus than it does about Our Lady. That is why I said we continue to focus on Jesus today also. What does the title Mother of God say about Jesus? It means that the humanity and divinity of Jesus are united in Jesus. There is not a separate human Jesus and a separate divine Jesus, there is one Jesus with a human nature and a divine nature, true God and true man, and because there is one Jesus we say Mary is Mother of God. There was a misunderstanding about this very issue in the fifth century that led to hundreds of bishops meeting in 431 AD during the Council of Ephesus which clarified that it is indeed correct and proper to give the title Mother of God to Our Lady because there is one Jesus with a human nature and a divine nature. Even before that clarification, the title Mother of God had been used by the faithful when describing Our Lady. Following the clarification by the Council of Ephesus that it is right and proper to title Our Lady as Mother of God, many churches were dedicated to Our Lady, and in 432 AD, the year after the Council of Ephesus, the construction of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome was begun which is first in importance in the world as a Marian shrine for pilgrims.

Caesar demanded a census and the whole world was in motion and turmoil.  People and families around the empire travelling to their own town.  The emperor had spoken and therefore it had to be!

Joseph and Mary – humble, poor, obedient to authority – travel to Bethlehem, even with Mary near child-birth.  They register for the census but the gospel does not specify one thing; did they register before the birth of Christ or after?  Did their census notation say, “one Jewish couple expecting a child” or “one Jewish couple with newborn male”?  I tend to believe that Joseph and Mary registered with the census before the birth of Jesus because it would be consistent with God’s way of working throughout scripture.

Let the powers of the world flex their muscle and show all their strength.  Peoples need to travel, life needs to be interrupted, Caesar Augustus wants a census!  God laughs.  God comes silently and humbly amidst all the turmoil of the time.  God even uses the great emperor’s project to accomplish His plan.  Who today remembers the census that Caesar ordered?  Yet all time and history celebrates the birth of the son of Mary.  Christ coming after the census is fulfilled demonstrates who is really the Lord of history.

‘Mary held all these words in her heart’(from today’s Gospel, Luke 2:51). On this first day of the New Year, the church invites us to take stock of the direction in which our lives are moving. Are we living to the full our privileged call to be disciples of Jesus, or are we perhaps just drifting, or attempting to compromise, attempting to supply our surface needs while neglecting the hunger and thirst experienced in our soul? We turn to Mary, for, more that any other, she shows us, simply and beautifully, the essence of what it means to live in communion with Jesus. It is to live a life of love. Whatever happens to us in life, we are to respond in love. In God’s providence she was prepared for this by her own parents, and by the purity of her personal response to grace. But the fullness of the lesson came as she gazed upon her son, as a child and as a man, in the home at Nazareth, and on the hill of Calvary. She knew what it was like to experience fear and uncertainty in the face of the unknown. Trusting God, she said Yes to what she believed God was asking of her. She knew what it was like to enjoy the love and companionship of her husband, and the joy of being a mother. She knew, too, the sword that pierced her heart as her Son was drawn by grace away from her embrace on his own journey of faith. She knew what it was like to see her Son welcomed and loved. She also saw him rejected, vilified, disgraced and cast out of the city to be crucified. Yet she continued to say Yes, knowing that love was the only true response, and trusting that where there is love there is God.

My father, a year before he died, said to me (I thought), “It’s amazing how fast the year goes by.”

It was late spring, and my term of teaching was closing out, so it was easy to agree. “Yes, I can’t believe it’s April already. I hardly know my students’ names.”

  “No,” he said, “not this year. The years. I can’t believe how fast the last thirty years went.”

My mother, a few years later, offered her own observation about the passing of time. A young mother of three seemed to ask her, “Isn’t it wonderful, now that you have time to do all the things you want without all the demands and rush of a growing family?”

  “No,” my mother said. “I would be perfectly happy to have those kids running around, especially if I could see then what I see now. But now is also good, and I’m going to appreciate it all while it’s still here.”

Each year, since the feast day of Mary Mother of God falls on New Year’s, I have gotten into the habit of finding interesting New Year’s resolutions. The reason for this is because many of us make New Year’s resolutions and it is good to have goals after all…even if we end up breaking most of them. This is why God invented Lent so we will have an opportunity to try again! When it came to resolutions this year, I was personally inspired by the person who said on Twitter, “I’m gonna lose weight. I’m gonna exercise every day. I’m gonna go on a diet and stick to it… Is that cake?” There was another one on Twitter which said, “I am going to stop make excuses and fish more often”. My favorite on Twitter was “My new year’s resolution is to quit Twitter”! Here we are again, my friends, we have finished one year and we now welcome a new year. There are many who had a good year last year, thank goodness, however there are many who may be glad that 2019 is over for one reason or another. Entering into a new year gives us all an opportunity to start anew, even if we secretly wonder if 2020 will be a happy new year. We all hope so. Maybe take a moment and examine your heart to see where you are at. If things are good right now, count your blessings. If things haven’t been so good, consider what the Gospel has to tell us.

“Do you realize that Mary’s Son is God?” a non-Catholic teenager asked her Catholic friend eagerly. “Did you know that?”

This teenager had just realized the truth.

This story was told by the late Archbishop James F. Carney in his 1987 Christmas message.

That question, he said, is “the question behind all other questions,” the question “the apostles and the evangelists put to their world,” the question that “the Church must and will address to man in the third millennium,” the “prime question that the Church will put to the world in [its] renewed evangelization.”

It is “the question of the year,” he said.