Motherhood of Mary and New Year 2022

 Mary, Mother of God and New Year [Lk 2:16-21]

01.01.2022

The Message of the Shepherds and Mary’s Faith-Response

Readings: (1) Num 6:22-27 (2) Gal 4:4-7

1.  Focus Statement

As we begin a New Year, Mother Church invites us to constantly imitate the most important features of Mary’s Motherhood: (1) receiving the Word of God in faith, (2) treasuring it in her heart and pondering its significance for one’s life.  

2.  Theme in brief

Treasuring the Word in our hearts and pondering it

3.   Explanation of the text

In today’s gospel passage we notice three categories of people responding to the event of Christ’s birth in three different ways. First category is the shepherds, to whom the breaking news of the Messiah’s birth is announced by the angels. Their faith-response of the shepherds is made clear by their efforts to make known to others what had been told to them about new-born Saviour (2:17) and to glorify and praise God for all they had heard from the angels and seen in the manger (2:20).They “saw” (of course, with the eyes of faith) the greatest ‘thing’ (event) that had taken place – the event of God taking birth in a human form and stooping down to be born in a manger.

Second category are the hearers of the words of the shepherds, the public who were only amazed at what the shepherds told them (2:18), but did not respond to that message in faith. They are like the ones who hear the Word but do not respond with faith because of lack of roots (cf. Lk 8:13).

Then we are told about the faith-response of Mary who treasured the Word of God (announced by the shepherds) and pondered its significance in her heart (2:19).  She is like those who after hearing the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and produce a hundredfold fruit (Lk 8:8, 15). Thus in today’s gospel, Mary is presented as a model for reflection and introspection into our life on the basis of God’s Word. What the shepherds ‘saw’ was God’s boundless love revealed through the image of an ordinary family that was guided by the faith-reflections of a mother.

Mary’s role of treasuring all the words of the shepherds (in fact, God’s word) and pondering them in her heart (2:19) highlights an important aspect of her motherhood: listening to God’s Word reflectively, keeping it as a precious treasure in her heart and pondering (literally chewing over) its meaning and relevance or significance for her (our) life. Luke repeats this important trait of Mother Mary later in 2:51 also, where he says that Mary treasured the words of Jesus regarding his mission to be in his Father’s house. As she (as well as Joseph) did not understand those words immediately (2:50), she pondered or deeply reflected over their meaning.

In Luke’s gospel, the shepherds’ going to Bethlehem in haste (2:16) is very much related to Mary’s setting out in haste to the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth (1:39) in the sixth month of her pregnancy (1:36). Whereas the haste with which shepherds hurried to Bethlehem implies their eagerness to hear, see and share with others or proclaim the good news of salvation, Mary’s haste refers to her eagerness to serve her relative Elizabeth during her pregnancy. We can imagine how Mary’s faith and reflections on God’s Word overflow into action (that is, service rendered or charity done to the needy).

Later in Luke’s gospel we see him presenting Mary as the prototype of all the disciples who become like ‘mothers’ and ‘brothers/sisters’ of Jesus by hearing the Word of God and doing it, that is,  living by it  or putting it into practice (Lk 8:19-21). She also becomes the prototype of all those who become blessed because of their hearing and obeying the Word of God (Lk 11:27-28). Hence the title “Blessed Virgin Mother” suits her very well.

4.  Application to life 

By keeping the feast of the Motherhood of Mary on New Year Day, the Church wants us to begin the New Year with her blessing and under her maternal protection. As she is our Heavenly Mother, we entrust all the days of this year to her motherly care and tender love. We hope that she will not forget her children all year long as we often pray to her, “Remember O Most Gracious Virgin Mary…..”

It is right to ask how New Year is related to this feast. What is the significance of the connection between Motherhood of Mary and New Year? It is said that the name of the first month of the year, "January" comes from the pagan god of Rome called Janus.  He was a double-faced god depicted in opposite directions, one face looking to the past and the other looking to the future. This idea fits very well with the features of Mary’s Motherhood. As explained above, Mary is a model of reflection and introspection on how we lived the past year and how we are going to live the future during this New Year. New Year is a new stage in our life to examine the past and look forward to the future. In spite of some failure of the past and anxieties of the unknown future, especially when the whole world is still struggling with Covid-19 variants, we are called to took forward to future with hope.

Socrates, the great Greek philosopher said, “An unexamined life is not worth living”. This idea of self-examination of the past and looking forward to a purpose-driven future, matches well with what Luke hints in today's gospel about an important trait of Mary's Motherhood: hearing the Word of God and pondering its meaning and relevance or significance for her life. She discovered God’s will and plans for her by treasuring God’s Word in her heart and pondering over its meaning, significance and relevance. She came to know about divine revelation through the message (words) of the shepherds, and God’s will in the event of finding Jesus in the Temple.

Mary did not know or understand the full meaning of neither the incarnation or the mission of her Son. She must have understood the full implications of this Christ-event only after the resurrection and Pentecost. From day one, she must have asked herself these questions again and again: who her Child really was; why he chose to be born in a stable under such a miserable condition; why he choose to be born of an ordinary girl like her; and why he chose the poor shepherds to give the good news of his birth and visit her family. Our entire Christian life is centred on who Jesus is for us and what it means to follow him in our times. Like her, we are to discover God’s plans for us in this New Year in the light of the Word of God.

As Mary pondered over the words of the shepherds (that is, God’s word) and the events that took place in her life, we too are invited today to reflect over the events of the past year and compare them with the purpose, vision and mission of our life. A vision or our personal dream is a mental image or picture of the ideal we wish to realize in our life-time. Some people dream only for their own personal prosperity and selfish needs, forgetting totally about the needs of the world, country and humanity. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (former President of India) calls such a dream only a small dream, though many think it is their big dream. He says that a small dream is a ‘crime’. Yes, it is a crime to be concerned only about oneself, one’s own progress and prosperity and not at all about problems of the world.

God has sent us with a definite purpose to make a small or big contribution for humanity which is God’s own cause. New Year is the best opportunity to see whether we have done our dream to our satisfaction. If not, as Abdul Kalam says, we need to activate our inner energy to translate our vision into better action in the New Year. Following Mary’s example, we need to introspect or ponder and see whether we are living our lives by chance or by personal choice. What were the wrong choices we made in the last year; and how are we going to make better choices in this year? On the New Year day, our Heavenly Mother invites us to make a review of life and recall to our mind the steps we need to take in order to live a purpose-driven life.

Mary is our best guide in our soul-searching questions. She becomes a model believer for her efforts to discover the meaning of life-events in the light of faith. She discovered God’s plans for her by treasuring God’s Word in her heart and pondering over its meaning and relevance. In the light of God’s Word, she reflected deeply on all the events of her life in order to discern what God was saying to her at every stage in her life. She is like those believers who after hearing the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and “bear fruit with patient endurance” (Lk 8:15), as Jesus has explained in the Parable of the Sower. Such believers are like the good soil that produces a hundredfold fruit (Lk 8:15).

The feast of Motherhood of Mary is closely related to the role of the Church (that is, all Christian believers) as a mother. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus asserts that his family extends beyond kinship relationships. He says : “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the Word of God and do it” (Lk 8:21). Here Mary is presented as the prototype (model) of all those who become mothers and brothers or sisters of Jesus by hearing the Word of God and doing it (Lk 8:19-21). Doing it means living by it. To live by it, we need to receive it in faith and ponder its implications for our situation. Like Mother Mary, we too are called to become ‘mothers’, of course ‘spiritual mothers’ to others by “doing” God’s Word. The whole Church needs to become what she really is, that is, a ‘mother’ of God (or Christ) because God is needing to be ‘born’ again and again in the hearts of people; his self-giving love, compassion for the marginalized, forgiveness of sinners or offenders and concern for the needy must take birth through believers like us. She truly becomes a spiritual mother by hearing the Word of God and doing it, just like Mother Mary. If we had not sufficiently become like mothers by our failure to show tender love, nursing and nurturing qualities of a mother in our relationships in the past year, the Church presents to us the model of Mother Mary to become more ‘motherly’ in the New Year.

Luke mentions Mary’s role of treasuring things in her heart twice in his gospel (cf. the explanation above) to show that she discovered God’s will both in his Word and in her life’s events. She came to know about divine revelation through the message (words) of the shepherds, and God’s will in the event of finding Jesus in the Temple. She understood the full implications of this event only after the resurrection and Pentecost. She had to go on discovering God’s ways gradually till the end of her life. God speaks to us today also through divine revelation (Word of God and its interpretation) as well as through the personal experiences gained through life’s events. But we need to be attuned to what God says as Mary was. Suppose we are attuned to only what the mass media, social media or misguiding companions say, and do not bother to listen to what God says in his Word, how can we know what God wants to tell us?

Further, our contemplation on the Word of God should overflow in joyful service like Mary’s going out “with haste” to minister to her needy relative Elizabeth (1:39). Let us begin this year with a resolve to be more sensitive to the needs of the needy and the suffering humanity like Mary, and be more eager to go out to joyfully serve such people. Do our religious practices and devotion to Mother Mary prompt or motivate us to go out of ourselves in serving the needy and the underprivileged, or become only a means to get personal favours for ourselves? Like Mary, blessed are those who really become ‘mothers’ by showing sensitivity to the needs of others and go out in haste to serve them by sacrificing their time and energies. In this year, can we think of a specific act of charity we would like to do to such people?

5.  Response to God's Word

Like Mother Mary, ponder over these questions as you begin a New Year: (1) In my personal conduct what will be my guiding principle in this new year? (2) In my family/ social relationships/ community life what will be my guiding principle? (3) In my workplace what will be my guiding principle? Could I have done better in the past year? How did I spend my time? What good did I do and what did I fail to do? Can I pick up one or two wider issues/ problems/ concerns/ needs of people of my area or of my country and think of what I like to say or do about it in my own little way, at least by a small gesture?? For whom? How? What is my bigger dream for this year? How can I discover God’s plan for my family and its future with Mary’s guidance? Please entrust this New Year, your and your family’s future, the future of the Church, the future of humanity, the future of the entire universe to our Heavenly Mother’s care.

6.  A prayer

Thank you God for giving us Mary as our best guide in some soul-searching questions we need to address as we begin a new year. Grant that like her we may hear your Word in faith, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and produce a hundredfold fruit. Like her, may we become model believers discovering your plans for us by treasuring your Word in our hearts and pondering over its meaning and relevance for our lives. Give us the grace to “do” or live God’s Word by our witness. By our ardent prayer and joyful service, may we become mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters of Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us that we may be faithful to our personal vision and mission in this year. Amen.