Introduction to today’s Celebration
This is a great day of joy the world over: a new year has
just begun and with it is the hope of new relationships of peace, new
endeavours to make life better for the human family, and resolutions to start
afresh in many areas of our individual lives. We as Christians share this joy
for our good news is that the Father of mercies is always extending his love
and care so that we can return to him and start over afresh. In sending us his
Son as a human being born of Mary in Bethlehem he showed the depth of that
love: he offered a new era to the whole human race, and now we are celebrating
the beginning of the two thousandth and twelfth year of that era. Now let us
reflect on all that we want to start afresh in the coming year, let us ask the
Father to help us overcome the old ways of sin and death, and to give us his
help in our new endeavours.
************
General Notes
The most basic fact about today is that it is New Year’s
Day, the public holiday that marks the end of the holiday season, and the
beginning of any number of other things from diaries to keeping accounts of
various sorts. In everyone’s eyes it is a special day. If we think of time as
made up of ‘stressed’ (= special days; special time) and ‘unstressed’(=
ordinary days; everyday time) periods, then this is a ‘stressed’ day par
excellence. It is a day that begins very consciously at midnight on New Year’s
Eve with parties, fireworks, bells, and street theatre, and is ended by the
television news showing how this day, because it is this day, has been
celebrated around the world. There are other New Year’s days (Jewish New Year,
Muslim New Year, Chinese New Year), but this is the calendar day that is most
widely celebrated. So if people do celebrate by joining together for the
Eucharist — and it is an excellent way for a Christian community to begin the
New Year — they will expect that this is the focus of the celebration. However,
if we follow the liturgical calendar they will be disappointed: there is no
mention of today being New Year’s Day in the prayers in the Missal — indeed the
only mention of New Year’s Day is found in the solemn blessings (Missal, p 368)
where there is one for the ‘Beginning of the New Year.’ This failure to
celebrate with those celebrating New Year is a major fault of the calendar
reform of 1970. While it seemed to the reformers that there was no better way
to mark this day than to make it a celebration of Mary’s greatest title, Theotokos,
that notion is so far away from most people’s imagination that it just creates
confusion.
So we have the world, and most Christians, celebrating New
Year’s Day but the calendar wants to celebrate a Marian feast; but there is
still more confusion: one is also celebrating the octave day of Christmas (i.e.
liturgically we can still view today as Christmas Day) and there is usually a
desire to celebrate this day as ‘a day of prayer for peace‘ — a
theme that is just imposed on top of the liturgy. If one tries to celebrate all
of these by combining them, the liturgy becomes a muddle: ‘we are here to
celebrate X and Y and it is also Z and we will also keep in mind…’
Today there is still a fragrance of celebration in the air
that the liturgy must capitalise on, and build upon, and sanctify: people know
that something new is happening, there is a frisson of expectation, there is a
moment of levity and goodwill; this can be the experience that can shape an
attitude to the eucharistic mysteries so that the celebration of ordinary life
also becomes a celebration of the incarnate One who has made the whole world
holy by his presence.
We might wonder how this occurred, especially when there is a Votive Mass for ‘The Beginning of the Civil Year’ (Missal, p 828) but with this rubric: ‘This Mass may not be celebrated on 1 January, the solemnity of Mary the Mother of God.’ In the pre-1970 rite this day was the Octave Day and the feast of the Circumcision with the single verse, Lk 2:21, as its gospel. In order to make more of this it became the present Marian feast. However, for those parts of the world where New Year was not on 1 January the reform instituted the votive Mass with its more inclusive theology of sanctifying the experience of people as they celebrate. Alas, more and more places are thereby left without a Mass-text today that links with most people’s actual celebrations. This absence indicates a cultural and ritual weakness in the present calendar; and frequently causes a dissonance in celebrations. There is a strong case to approach today by ignoring this day as a Marian feast and as the octave-day of Christmas, and focus on it as New Year’s Day, even using the Votive Mass, praying that in the time-period that is beginning those gathered will grow in holiness.
Homily
Notes
1. Today is a new start for so many things: it is the
beginning of a new time, it offers us new opportunities, it is a time of
starting afresh, it is a time of new resolution, it is a moment to let go of
the past. These are among the most basic themes of all human ritual. There is
some sort of new year festival found in every religion: we have only to think
of the Akitu new year festival of Babylonians which has left its imprint on the
Old Testament, the great stone-age burial mound of Newgrange in Ireland which
celebrates an annual solar event and thus marks a new year, or the fact that
while in our society many wonder about the appropriateness of Christian ritual
for Christmas, no one doubts the need for rituals for new year. The notion of
renewal, or starting over seems to be deep within us and we need to celebrate
it.
2. This notion of the need to be able to start over, to let
by-gones be by-gones is precisely what we celebrate as the redemption Christ
has won for us.He comes to us with the offer of his forgiveness, with the
possibility of a new start, a rebirth. This is why the basic Christian ritual
is baptism: the past is over, life begins afresh. This is the same renewal that
lies at the heart of Christian forgiveness and the Sacrament of Reconciliation:
the past is dead, we can begin anew.
3. The birth of Jesus was a fresh start for the whole of
humanity: that is why we Christians started counting the years from that time
just over two thousand years ago.
4. Just as we want to start over today in so many ways, the
Lord offers us the opportunity to start over afresh in lives through his
forgiveness. He offers us the loving hand of his friendship at each gathering
at his table. He offers us the strength and grace to walk towards the good in
our new year’s resolutions.
5. For many people on this day, that the past will remain
past and that a fresh start can be made is just a deeply held desire that may
be simply the assertion of optimism over experience; for Christians the
forgiveness and new beginning we all need is the very heart of the good news of
Jesus the Christ.
****************************************************************
John LittetonGospel Reflection
At the beginning of the New Year many people make
resolutions for the future and, although the passing of time proves that most
people do not persevere, they intend to adhere faithfully and diligently to
those resolutions. The New Year is usually a time of planning ahead, aspiring
towards ideals, setting ambiguous targets and working to reach those ideals and
achieve those targets.
Some people decide to devote more time to their spouses and
children because they are conscious that, in the past, they have focused too
much on work or other activities and neglected family life. Others resolve to
work more efficiently so that they can honestly justify their earnings. Some
students choose to study systematically and consistently, hoping that they will
perform successfully in their examinations later in the year. Many people
decide to become healthier by dieting and exercising, especially after their
festive eating and drinking during the Christmas season.
But life is not as simple as making New Year resolutions and
effortlessly keeping them. Experience teaches us that we are creatures of habit
and that it is particularly difficult for most of us to remain disciplined
enough to fulfil our New Year resolutions. In practice, we frequently abandon
them soon afterwards, only to renew them again next year.
Christianity teaches us that human nature is flawed because
of Original Sin and that, whenever we rely on ourselves alone, we are unable to
sustain our efforts to change our attitudes and improve our behaviour. We
constantly need God’s help and blessing. Otherwise all our efforts are
ultimately doomed to failure. Thus it is appropriate to ask God’s blessing on
the New Year and on everything we undertake in the future.
Invoking God’s blessing and grace, which is a share in his
divine life, on us and our activities acknowledges our dependence on God. It
admits that we are people of faith. It also challenges us to be humble about
our talents and achievements by reminding us that our happiness and well-being
originate in God’s infinite and unconditional love, which is the source of our
life.
It is noteworthy that the Church begins the new civil year by celebrating the motherhood of Mary.
The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God provides a possibility to renew our devotion to Mary, who is also Mother of the Church because she is our spiritual mother — and we are the Church. We begin the New Year by reflecting on Our Lady’s humility and faith. She is a model for all Christians, and the beginning of the New Year is a good time to commit ourselves again to imitating her openness to God’s will and her love for Christ and his Church.
It is noteworthy that the Church begins the new civil year by celebrating the motherhood of Mary.
The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God provides a possibility to renew our devotion to Mary, who is also Mother of the Church because she is our spiritual mother — and we are the Church. We begin the New Year by reflecting on Our Lady’s humility and faith. She is a model for all Christians, and the beginning of the New Year is a good time to commit ourselves again to imitating her openness to God’s will and her love for Christ and his Church.
What are our New Year resolutions? As we plan ahead and
aspire towards ideals for the future, are we aware of the need for God in our
lives? For example, will we start and finish each day with a prayer that asks
for God’s blessing? We begin another year by praying for God’s blessing on our
lives and on our work.
For meditation
As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered
them in her heart. When the eighth day came and the child was to be
circumcised, they gave him the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him
before his conception. (LUKE 2:19, 21)
**************From Fr. Jude Botelho:
Dear Friend,
One of our traditional invocations when we want to wish people well is to say ‘God bless you’. A Blessing implies finding favour with God. On the first day of the New Year it would be good to bless and thank God for the gift of yet another year and ask for his blessings on every day of the New Year. One of the blessings we have received is the gift of Mary Mother of God and our mother. It would be great if we could count the marvels God does for us every day!
‘Have a blessed New Year!’
Reflection |
The blessing from today’s first reading is one of the best known sections of the entire Torah, a priestly blessing upon the people. The blessing is threefold, and was used by the Jewish priests to bless the people at the end of the sacrifice in the temple of Jerusalem. The words of the blessing are almost self-explanatory; three times the name of Yahweh is mentioned to remind us that He is the source of all blessing. The blessing firstly recognizes the people’s dependence on God. Secondly, it wishes that God gives the recipients a sign of his pleasure. Thirdly, it wishes ‘Peace’ that precious gift of not only internal tranquility, but prosperity and happiness as well. In summary, what is being said is that we are blessed because we are children of Yahweh, his favoured sons and daughters! Live the day before you die for God A group of students being a bit puzzled by problems, went to one of their favourite teachers for advice. This teacher had gained their confidence because he seemed to have something the rest lacked. The teacher tried his best to help them, and in concluding said to them “Live the day before you die for God.” “But”objected one of the boys, “how can we do that? We don’t know the day we are going to die.” “Then,” smiled the teacher, “live every day as if it were the day before you die. It’s as simple as that.” Antony Kolencherry in ‘Living the Word’ The Gospel reminds us of the journey of the shepherds to Bethlehem. They had heard the good news of the birth of Jesus, they believed and journeyed to discover the child born to be the Saviour of the world. Each one has to make this journey during one’s life. The journey becomes meaningful if we are ready and willing to move on, to journey solely guided by God’s word and God’s promise. This too is the call of every Christian: to listen, believe, and proclaim what we have heard, seen, and experienced in our lives. There is another journey of faith alluded to in today’s gospel narrative, the faith journey of Mary. The faith journey is not necessarily an external journey, but it could very well be the longest journey of one’s life. To discover the face of God, we need, like Mary, to listen, to treasure all these things and ponder them in our heart. One needs to be a contemplative in action. When Mary said ‘yes’ to God she did not understand, but she journeyed in faith. At the revelations of the shepherds, though the others were active in amazement, Mary was silent and pondered all these things in her heart. Mary was blessed at the Annunciation, blessed at the birth in Bethlehem, blessed by the visit of the shepherds, as she contemplated them in the depth of her heart. Each time we reflect, we pray, we let God be born in us and through us. The last part of the gospel says that on the eighth day Jesus was circumcised and given the name Jesus, which means ‘the one who saves’ the one who earns for us the privilege to call God ‘Father’. Thanks to Jesus, we have the greatest blessing, for He is as close as the mention of his name, and in and through His name alone are we saved. Today as we begin a New Year we also thank God for Mary, who gives us Jesus, who makes known to us the face of God, shining on us, looking kindly and tenderly upon us and brings us His peace. Giving birth to God Chinua Achebe, the well-known Nigerian author, made an interesting remark in his book ‘The Anthills of the Savanna’. He tells us how in both the Bible and his African traditions, women are blamed for all that went wrong in the world. In our biblical tradition it is the familiar story of Eve. In Achebe’s tradition, women were the reason that God, who once lived very near to his human creation left it. God was so near that the women, who were pounding their millet into flour hit God. God warned them against this. They would be careful for some time, but they would start to chat again, forget about the divine presence, and hit God again. Finally God gave up and left. In both cases, Achebe writes, men told these stories. They knew they weren’t true stories and because they felt somewhat guilty about them, they added another story in which they relate that final salvation will come through a woman, different from all other women, who cooperates with God. That is why it is good to consider that every woman is invited by God to be like Mary, cooperating like Mary, to give birth to God in themselves and in the world in which they live. Joseph Donders in ‘With Hearts on Fire’ The big difference A shoeshine boy was plying his trade in New York’s Grand Central Station. A silver medal danced at his neck as he slapped his shine cloth, again and again, across a man’s shoes. “Sonny,” said the man curiously, “what’s the hardware around your neck?” It’s a medal of the mother of Jesus,” the boy replied. “Why her medal?” said the man. “She’s no different from your mother.” “Could be,” said the boy, “but there’s a real big difference between her son and me.” The boy’s devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus, invites me to ask: What role does Mary play in my life? How might she play an even bigger role? Mark Link in ‘Vision 2000’ Come to the stable “A Legend from Russia” is a poem by Phyllis McGinley about Christmas. The poem begins as the old grandmother, Babushka, is about to retire for the evening: ‘When out of the winter’s rush and roar came shepherds knocking upon her door. They tell her of a royal child a virgin just bore and beg the grandmother to come and adore. Babushka is good-hearted, but she likes her comfort, and so her reaction is to go later. “Tomorrow,” she mutters. “Wait until then.” But the shepherds come back and knock again. This time they beg only for a blanket: With comforting gifts, meat or bread, And we will carry it in your stead. Again Babushka answers, “Tomorrow.” And when tomorrow comes, she’s as good as her word. She packs a basket of food and gifts: A shawl for the lady, soft as June, For the Child in the crib a silver spoon, Rattles and toys and an ivory game . . . but the stable was empty when she came. Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’ Being given a name In his book Roots, Alex Haley tells how his African ancestors name their children. Eight days after the child’s birth, the father took the child into his arms whispered its name into its ear. That night the father completed the ceremony. Carrying the child out under the stars, alone, he lifted the baby up to the sky and said, “Behold the only thing greater than yourself.” This naming rite helps us appreciate better the two rites that surrounded the birth of Jesus: circumcision and presentation. Circumcision initiated Jesus into the community of God’s chosen people. Presentation consecrated Jesus to God. Mark Link in ‘Daily Homilies’ Thanks for all that has been! In the popular musical 'The Fiddler on the Roof' someone asks the wise Rabbi: Is there a blessing for the Czar?” The Rabbi replies, “May God bless and keep the Czar....far away from us!” Indeed, there is a blessing for everything and everyone. So, don’t hesitate to breathe a Spirit-blessing upon your whole world –your body, your work, your studies, your friends and the New Year. Let everything and everyone fill your mind as you whisper the words, “I bless you with the holy name of Jesus!” Remember, God has created you to be a blessing. May the New Year find us being a blessing unto all. Thus, with the name of Jesus under the protection of Mary, and with the breath of God’s Spirit, let’s pray the prayer of Dag Hammarsjold: “Lord, for all that has been, Thanks! For all that will be, Yes!” May we be blessed each day of the New Year! |
From the Connections:
In the Roman church, today’s solemnity is the oldest feast of Mary in
the Church, honoring her by her first and primary title, “Mother of God.”
Jesus is given the name Yeshua – “The Lord saves.” The rite
of circumcision unites Mary’s child with the chosen people and makes him an
heir to the promises God made to Abraham -- promises to be fulfilled in the
Child himself.
HOMILY POINTS:
Today we honor Mary under her most ancient title -- Theotokos,
Bearer of God: In accepting her role as mother of the Messiah, she
becomes the first disciple of her Son, the first to embrace his Gospel of hope,
compassion and reconciliation.
As Mary, the young unmarried pregnant girl, believes and trusts in the
incredible thing that she is to be a part of, even the most ordinary of us can
believe in our parts in the drama, too.
The God who makes all things new in Christ enables us to make this truly
a new year for each one of us -- a time for renewal and re-creation in the love
of God, a time for making this year a year of peace in our lives and homes, a
time for making this new year truly a “year of our Lord.”
From Fr. Munachi:
African Christians often ask why there is no feast of the creation in
the church’s liturgical calendar. They ask why there is no feast dedicated to
God the Father, when we have feasts dedicated to God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit. One reason for this omission is because the early Christians were more
concerned about the new order of grace that came through Jesus and Mary rather
than the old order of nature that came through Adam and Eve. Today’s second
reading, taken from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, dwells on this new order
which began with God sending us His son and continues with God sending us His
Holy Spirit.
There are two parts to the reading. The first part dwells on the
incarnation, the mystery of the Son of God becoming human (verses 4-5). The
second part dwells on sanctification, that mystery whereby God sends the Spirit
of His Son into our hearts to make us God’s own children (verses 6-7).
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a
woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so
that we might receive adoption as children (Galatians 4:4-5).
Paul sees the entire order of nature, from creation up to the coming of
Christ, as a preparation. In the fulness of time, when the preparation was
complete, then the real thing happened. God sent His Son. Paul points out the
contrasts between the new order in Christ and the old order in Adam.
- Jesus was God’s
Son whereas Adam was only God’s creation.
- Jesus was born
of a woman, Mary, whereas the woman, Eve, came from Adam.
- Jesus was born a
loyal subject of the law whereas Adam would not obey God’s law.
- Jesu brought us
redemption, Adam brought us the Fall.
- In Jesus we
regain the dignity of being God’s children, in Adam we lost it.
And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into
our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"So you are no longer a slave but a
child, and if a child then also an heir, through God (Galatians 4:6-7).
God’s first attempt to make us His children through creation failed. God
would not want the new creation to be a failure also. To ensure that this does
not happen, God sends “the Spirit of His Son” into our hearts to teach us and
empower us to be and feel and live as God’s children. This indwelling Spirit
helps us to know God as our loving Father and address God with familiarity
“Abba! Daddy!” This Spirit helps us to know ourselves as God’s beloved
children, not as fearful slaves who have to do God’s will under fear of
punishment.
As the new year begins, let us see this year as another chance given to
us to get it right, to grow in familiarity with God our loving Father, and to
grow in our awareness of ourselves as God’s beloved children, all of us,
beloved children of the same loving Father.
Fr, Tony
Kadavil:
Anecdote: There is a beautiful, little story about a long,
tedious train journey made, one Christmas day, by some elderly residents of a
nursing home who were on their way to a vacation spot. At one station, a young
mother with a small child entered the train. The child smiled at all the grim
faces around him and began moving from one lap to another talking, shouting
with joy and chatting with everyone. Instantly, the grim and silent atmosphere
in the train was changed to one of joy and happiness. Today we remember with
joy and gratitude, how Mary and her Divine Son Jesus transformed a hopeless,
joyless and sinful world into a place of joy and happiness.
Introduction
Since we
celebrate the Feast of Mary the Mother of God on New Year's Day, may I take
this opportunity to wish you all a Happy and Peaceful New Year. I pray that the
Lord Jesus and his mother Mary may enrich your lives during the New Year with
an abundance of God's blessings. Today's Feast of "Mary, Mother of
God" is a very appropriate way to begin a new year. This celebration
reminds us that the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, is also our
Heavenly Mother. Hence our ideal motto for the New Year 2008 should be
"Through Mary to Jesus!"
Today's
feast answers the question of why Catholics honour Mary. Non- Christians
sometimes believe that we Catholics worship Mary as a goddess who gave birth to
our God. Non Catholic Christians argue that there is no Biblical basis for honouring
Mary, and that Catholics worship her and make her equal to God. They fail to
understand why we honour Mary by naming churches and institutions after her.
They do not understand what we mean by calling her the Mother of God. The truth
is that we Catholics do not worship Mary as we worship, adore God. We honour
her, respect her, love her and seek her intercession praying, "Holy Mary,
mother of God, pray for us sinners." We do not, ever, equate her with God
nor replace God with her. Rather, we honour her primarily because God honoured
her by choosing her to become the mother of Jesus, the Second Person of the
Holy Trinity, when He took on our flesh and became Man.
Exegesis
We learn
the great truth that Mary is the Mother of God from St. Luke's gospel, in the
message given by the angel to Mary: "You are going to be the mother of a Son and
you will call Him Jesus, and He will be called the Son of the Most High."
When the Blessed Virgin Mary visited Elizabeth ,
after the angel had appeared to her and told her that she would be the mother
of Jesus, Elizabeth
said, "Why should this great thing happen to me, that my Lord's mother
comes to visit me?" [Lk. 1:43]. The Holy Scriptures teach us that Jesus
was both God and man. John writes: "The Word became flesh and lived among
us" [Jn. 1:14]. St Paul
refers to this event when he writes to the Galatians, "God sent forth His
Son, born of a woman".
The
doctrine of the Church:
Based on these references in the New Testament and on the traditional belief of
the early Church, the Council of Ephesus affirmed in AD 431 that Mary was truly
the Mother of God because "according to the flesh" she gave birth to
Jesus, who was truly God from the first moment of His conception by Mary.
Twenty years later, in AD 451, the Council of Chalcedon affirmed the Motherhood
of Mary as a dogma, an official doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church. Since
Jesus is God and Mary is his mother, she is the Mother of God, Mother of the
Messiah and the Mother of Christ our Divine Saviour. We also learn from the
Holy Scriptures and Tradition that God filled the mother of His only Son with
all celestial graces, freed her at the moment of her conception from original
sin, allowed her to play an active role in the redemptive work of Jesus, and
finally took her to heaven, body and soul, after her death. As He was dying on
the cross, Jesus gave us the precious gift of His own mother to be our heavenly
Mother.
Life messages
1) Let us
strive to be pure and holy like our heavenly Mother. All mothers want their children to inherit or
acquire their good qualities. Our heavenly Mother is no exception. She
succeeded in training the Child Jesus, so that He grew in holiness and in
"favour before God and man." Hence our best way of celebrating this
feast and honouring our heavenly Mother would be to promise her that we will
practice her virtues of faith, obedience, purity and humble service. In this
way, we will be trying to become the saintly sons and daughters of our heavenly
Mother, the holy Mother of God.
2) Three
ways to make the New Year meaningful: a) Something to dream, b) Something to do,
and c) Someone to love. "I have a dream'" said Martin Luther King. We
should all have a noble plan of action (dream a noble dream) for every day in
the New Year. We need to remember the proverb:" Cherish your yesterdays,
dream your tomorrows, but live your today." It has been truly said that an
idle mind is the devil's workshop. We must not be barren fig trees in God's
vineyard. We must be always engaged, doing good to others and loving our fellow
men and women, who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. This becomes easy
when we make God the center of our life and realize His presence in all the
people around us. Let us light a candle instead of blaming the darkness around
us. Just as the moon borrows the sun's light to illuminate the earth, we must
radiate the light of God shining within us.
3) A
resolution for the New Year:
We might resolve to start every morning with a short prayer: "Good
morning, Lord. Thank You for extending my life for one more day. Please grant
me a special anointing of your Holy Spirit so that I may do your holy will
today and avoid everything evil." We might also resolve to say a short
prayer, every evening, the last thing we do before we go to sleep: "Thank
you Lord for helping me to do your will today. Forgive me, Lord, for saying
'no' to your grace several times today. I am really sorry for all my sins of
the day. Please pardon me. And, as we close our eyes, we might say: "Good
night, Lord. "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."
Have a Happy New Year, overflowing with a
"Yes" to God our Father, to the Lord Jesus our Savior and to the Holy
Spirit our Advocate and our Guide to every good deed.
Welcome
to a new year! Thank God we have lived to see it! I have the privilege of
accompanying you, if you wish, every day of this new year as we read the gospel
passages together, like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Like us, those
disciples had no idea what lay in store for them. Their minds were fixed on a
disastrous past and a bleak future. But Jesus was walking beside them, talking
with them, drawing out their fears: he was nearer than they could ever have
imagined. “Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road?”
(Luke 24:32). We know only one thing about the future: the Jesus will walk with
us, no matter what happens.
Mary too
will walk with us. It is appropriate to have a mother to accompany our first
steps. January 1st is always her feast. Her title, ‘Mother of God, affirms
equally the humanity and the divinity of Jesus.
The
Nestorians – followers of Nestorius, the 5th-century archbishop of Constantinople – said that Christ was two persons: the
man Jesus and the divine Son of God. This view was condemned at the Council of
Ephesus (431 AD), which insisted that he was one person with two natures,
divine and human. The most emphatic way they could say this was to affirm that
Mary was not just the mother of the man Jesus, but that she was the mother of
God. This was to say that Christ was one person, not two. The word used was
‘Theotokos’ (Greek for ‘God-bearer’). The Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.)
continued the use of this term, and it has become orthodox Christian teaching.
Note that it is more a statement about Christ than about Mary – or rather,
equally so. Icons of the ‘Theotokos’ are common now in the West.
In a
sense, when a child is born a mother is born. When a child is born, its mother
begins to be a mother. Even if she was already mother to other children this
new child makes her a new mother; a new chapter in her mothering begins. In the
birth of the Son of God, Mary begins to be the Mother of God. When a Child is
born, a Mother is born.
ILLUSTRATIONS:
1. Did you know that New Year's Day is the
one holiday that is almost universal? It is the world's most observed holiday.
I trust you've made your New Year's
resolutions one of which is to be in worship each week. Well done for this
first Sunday. I won't ask you if you've resolved to lose the weight you gained
between Thanksgiving and Christmas, or if you're planning on joining a health
club, or if you're going to run five miles a day. Five miles, by the way, is my
total aggregate of a lifetime of running.
The late
Erma Bombeck made some memorable
resolutions over the years:
1. I
will go to no doctor whose office plants have died.
2. I'm going to follow my husband's suggestion to put a little excitement into my life by living within our budget.
3. I'm going to apply for a hardship scholarship to Weight Watchers.
4. I will never loan my car to anyone I have given birth to.
2. I'm going to follow my husband's suggestion to put a little excitement into my life by living within our budget.
3. I'm going to apply for a hardship scholarship to Weight Watchers.
4. I will never loan my car to anyone I have given birth to.
2. Joke
writer Ed McManus has some words of comfort for
those of us who are setting resolutions: "Don't worry about [keeping]
those 2013 News Year's resolutions," he says. "You only have to deal
with them until the end of February and then you can give them up for
Lent." It sounds like he has been spying on some of us.
Resolutions are good, especially if there
are changes we need to make in our lives. I heard about one poor guy who
dialled his girlfriend and got the following recording: "I am not
available right now, but thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes
in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your
call, you are one of the changes."
It's good to make changes, for the most
part. As we are often reminded by our critics, our spouses or our children,
none of us is perfect. In fact, some of us might have some deep regrets about
the way we've lived our lives.
3. Dr.
Les Parrott tells about a guy in Fredericksburg,
Virginia named Cliff Satterthwaite who helps people get rid of their regrets.
Each New Year's Eve Mr. Satterthwaite sets up a booth there in Fredericksburg
where those celebrating New Year's Eve can come for a moment of sober
reflection. Put the emphasis on "sober" reflection. Those who come
write their regrets on a scrap of paper, then they set a match to them and turn
them to ashes in an adjacent canister. Literally, their regrets go up in smoke.
At least, that's the general idea.
We could do that. We could write our
regrets on a piece of paper and bring them to the altar and watch them go up in
smoke. That might be very therapeutic for some of us as we begin a new year.
But our text for the day from the prologue to the Gospel of John puts the
emphasis not on our past, but on our future. Not on our regrets, but on our
possibilities....
4. Tom
Ervin, Professor of Music at the University of
Arizona was attending a conference for music teachers in New York. While at the
conference he purchased a talking metronome. A metronome is a device for
counting the beats in a song. Before Tom and his son boarded their flight home,
Tom hefted his carry-on bag onto the security-check conveyor belt.
The security guard's eyes widened as he watched the monitor. He asked Tom what he had in the bag. Then the guard slowly pulled out of the bag this strange looking device, a six-by-three-inch black box covered with dials and switches. Other travellers, sensing trouble, vacated the area.
The security guard's eyes widened as he watched the monitor. He asked Tom what he had in the bag. Then the guard slowly pulled out of the bag this strange looking device, a six-by-three-inch black box covered with dials and switches. Other travellers, sensing trouble, vacated the area.
"It's a metronome," Tom replied
weakly, as his son cringed in embarrassment. "It's a talking
metronome," he insisted. "Look, I'll show you." He took the box
and flipped a switch, realizing that he had no idea how it worked. "One .
. . two . . . three . . . four," said the metronome in perfect time.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
As they gathered their belongings, Tom's
son whispered, "Aren't you glad it didn't go 'four . . . three . . . two .
. . one . . . '?" For the past few weeks we have been counting down the
days until Christmas. Now we could count the hours until the dawning of a New
Year. But we need to linger with Mary and Joseph for a little while longer,
because what happened immediately after Christmas is a stark reminder of the
world in which we live...
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6. Stay
Focused!
We sometimes miss the great opportunities
of life because we get sidetracked. I once heard the tale of a talented and
gifted bloodhound in England that started a hunt by chasing a full-grown male
deer. During the chase a fox crossed his path, so he began now to chase the
fox. A rabbit crossed his hunting path, so he began to chase the rabbit. After
chasing the rabbit for a while, a tiny field mouse crossed his path, and he
chased the mouse to the corner of a farmer's barn. The bloodhound had begun the
hunt chasing a prized male deer for his master and wound up barking at a tiny
mouse. It is a rare human being who can do three or four different things at a
time--moving in different directions.
The Apostle Paul knew his number one
priority in life was to live his life to the honor and glory of God by
preaching the Gospel. However, we know that Paul is not in a plush hotel room
but in prison. He receives a report that all is not well at the Church in
Philippi. His very life could be ended at any moment. And the list goes on.
However, the Apostle Paul would not allow anything to cross his path that would
deter him from his priority. Paul knew that his new life was a gift from God,
not from the promises of humanity. His life was to be lived for his master.
Nothing would sidetrack him of that priority!
Eric S. Ritz
___________________________
7. Living
by the Calendar Instead of the Clock (New Year's)
"Leisure," from the Latin, means
"to be free." Leisure is anything that restores you to peace while
you are doing it. So, gardening, golf, reading, puzzles, and many other things
can restore us to peace as we do them. Another cousin of leisure is the word
"paragon." This little-used word means "the second thing that we
do in life that keeps the first thing in tune." Hence, our work may draw
energy from us, and we have then a "paragon," a leisure thing we do
in order to restore us.
Most often, to build toward leisure demands
that we disassemble something else. In Thomas Moore's book Meditations, he
tells of a pilgrim walking along a road. The pilgrim sees some men working on a
stone building.
"You
look like a monk," the pilgrim said.
"I am that," said the monk.
"Who is that working on the abbey?"
"My monks. I'm the abbot."
"It's good to see a monastery going up," said the pilgrim.
"They're tearing it down," said the abbot.
"Whatever for?" asked the pilgrim.
"So we can see the sun rise at dawn," said the abbot.
"I am that," said the monk.
"Who is that working on the abbey?"
"My monks. I'm the abbot."
"It's good to see a monastery going up," said the pilgrim.
"They're tearing it down," said the abbot.
"Whatever for?" asked the pilgrim.
"So we can see the sun rise at dawn," said the abbot.
Richard A. Wing
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8. Who
Needs Resolutions? We Need a Revolution!
Welcome to this New Year. I trust that one
of your resolutions for this year is to be in worship every week. Good for you.
That's one resolution you've kept for at least one week.
I heard about one poor fellow who decided to make only resolutions this year he could keep. He resolved to gain weight, to stop exercising, to read less and watch more TV, to procrastinate more, to quit giving money and time to charity, to not date any member of the cast of Baywatch, and to never make New Year's resolutions again.
Maybe he's onto something. Why torture ourselves when we never keep those resolutions more than a week anyway?
What we need, of course, is not another resolution, but a revolution. We need a turning point in our lives. Like the wise men of old we need to catch a glimpse of a guiding light, and we need to follow that light to a New Life in Christ.
King Duncan, www.Sermons.com
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9. Seven
Resolutions
I like a list of resolutions prepared
by the Rev. Walter Schoedel. He calls them '7-UPS for the New Year.' No, this
has nothing to do with the soft drink. These 7-UPS fall under the heading of
attitudes and actions.
The first is WAKE UP--Begin the day with the Lord. It is His day. Rejoice in it.
The second is DRESS-UP--Put on a smile. It improves your looks. It says something about your attitude.
The third is SHUT-UP--Watch your tongue. Don't gossip. Say nice things. Learn to listen.
The fourth is STAND-UP--Take a stand for what you believe. Resist evil. Do good.
Five, LOOK-UP--Open your eyes to the Lord. After all, He is your only Savior.
Six, REACH-UP--Spend time in prayer with your adorations, confessions, thanksgivings and supplications to the Lord.
And finally, LIFT-UP--Be available to help those in need--serving, supporting, and sharing.
If you're going to make New Year's resolutions this year, let me suggest Rev. Schoedel's list.
Why do we bother to make New Year's resolutions in the first place? Why do we feel this need each January 1 to set new goals? Maybe it is because resolutions help us to identify our priorities. They answer the Question: how do I want to invest my time, energy, money, and talents in this New Year? The New Year reminds us that time is passing. It is up to each of us to maximize the potential of every moment.
Walter Schoedel
_____________________
10. Keep
Your Head Right
Pastor Stephen Brown taught swimming and
diving for a number of years. He tells about a young boy named Billy. Billy had
watched so many professional divers and wanted so much to dive like them that
he refused to take time to learn the basics. Time after time Brown tried to
help Billy see that the most important thing about diving was to keep his head
in the proper position. If his head entered the water properly, Brown
explained, the rest of his body would enter the water properly--at least, more
properly than it had been. Billy would dive into the pool, do a belly flop, and
come up grinning, "Mr. Brown," he would shout, "were my feet
together?"
"Billy, I don't care whether your feet were together or not," Brown shouted back. "Make sure your head is straight, then everything else will work out."
"Billy, I don't care whether your feet were together or not," Brown shouted back. "Make sure your head is straight, then everything else will work out."
The next time Billy would stand on the edge of the pool and really concentrate. Then he would dive and, once again, make a mess of it. "Mr. Brown, were my hands together?"
"Billy," Brown would groan in frustration, "I'm going to get you a neck brace and weld it onto your head. For the hundredth time, if your head is right the rest of you will be right. If your head is wrong, the rest of you will be wrong."
And isn't that true in all of life? If our head is wrong, our marriage will probably suffer. If our head is wrong, our priorities will be fouled up. If our head is wrong, it may even affect our health in a negative way. God understands our distress and God seeks to make us new persons so that we can handle our distress more effectively.
Stephen Brown, When Being Good Isn't Good
Enough, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Adapted by King Duncan
____________________
11. Humor:
Resolutions
Wife to Spouse: "I don't want to brag,
but here it is February and I've kept every one of my New Year's resolutions.
I've kept them in a manila folder in the back of my desk!"
Orben's Current Comedy
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12. Boast
not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what
a day may bring forth.
Proverbs 27:1
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13. Getting
Started
Some of us make resolutions like one man,
named George, I heard about recently. He said to a friend: "There's
nothing like getting up at six in the morning, going for a run around the park,
and taking a brisk shower before breakfast."
His friend Bob asked, "How long have
you been doing this?"
George said: "I start tomorrow."
_________________________
14. Humor:
90 Days
We're only two days away from the New Year,
and I can feel the anticipation--or dread, depending on your point of
view--growing.
I heard one guy say he already dreads the New Year. He said, "The holidays aren't quite over and already I'm about 90 days ahead on my calories and 90 days behind on my bills." Some of you can identify with him.
I heard one guy say he already dreads the New Year. He said, "The holidays aren't quite over and already I'm about 90 days ahead on my calories and 90 days behind on my bills." Some of you can identify with him.
King Duncan