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!
What a wonderful blessing to begin the New Year. It is given to us in the first reading of this first day of our new year, a blessing we might take to heart and use it as a resolution to bless all those we encounter in the days and months ahead.
Today is also the feast of the Solemnity of Mary, our blessed Mother. Mary, a new mother ponders the wonder and awe of her newborn child. Even amidst the impoverished surroundings of the stable, Mary rejoices at the miracle of life as she gazes at her baby and reflects upon the events surrounding His birth. The arrival of the shepherds breaks open the privacy of the event for Mary and Joseph and they are filled with amazement and perhaps even overwhelmed as their world becomes public, not to relatives and friends but to strangers from fields. Mary is young in age yet wise in soul and filled with the grace to be at peace with what she has yet to fully understand. She knows this is no ordinary event nor is this child to have an ordinary life. Not knowing where her journey with this child will take her, she has implicit trust in God and accepts life as it unfolds. The time of anticipation, her advent, for Mary has passed, now she was drawn into a deeper time of contemplation as she reflects on the happenings around her in her heart.
How will we enter this new year of our lives? Will the image offered by the Gospel of Mary’s contemplative stance be an example for us? Are we willing to take in the world around us and the words of the Gospel to heart, ponder them and respond by the actions of our lives?
May each of us receive the grace to deepen our call to be Contemplative Preachers of the Good News. Through our contemplation may we be drawn to actions that will bring the Savior’s peace to all of creation!
Sr. Joan Agro, OP
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