Heart of it all

Mary, the Holy Mother of God   1 January 2018

First reading

Numbers 6:22-27

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them,

‘The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.'”

                

Second reading

Galatians 4:4-7

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. 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.

Gospel

Luke 2:16-21

So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Reflection

by Grace B. Madriñan

“And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” – Luke 2:19

Mary,  being a human herself,  may have been overwhelmed by all the events in her life.  These things do not happen to any 14-year old girl. Within a year,  she becomes pregnant,  a wife and now a mother of the Messiah. She trusted -- even though she did not fully understand.  She neither complains nor go bragging about her being a mother of the Savior. She kept calm, prayed and took everything to heart.  She did not go making assumptions or interfered with God’s plans.

Her humility is something to emulate.  At her joyous or even at her agonizing moments (later in life), she remained calm, accepting of the Father’s will.  Despite being “blessed among all women”, she lived a normal life, doing normal things a mother or a wife would.  I prayed I could be like her, or have even a fraction of her serenity and humility.  

But Mary is no ordinary woman, and I am far from being like her. My actions were completely the opposite of what Mary would do.  The moment I heard the sad news from our community heads, that one of our Feasts will be discontinued, I got disappointed.  I withdraw at my corner, full of pride, I refused to communicate.  All servants were encouraged to serve at a sister Feast, I declined. My emotions got the best of me.  (The Feast is a regular praise and worship of the Light of Jesus community)

In my mind, I know I wanted to accept the decision of our community heads and move on. I wanted to be like Mary, who is a model of obedience despite any circumstances. It was only after two good weeks of discernment that I was finally able to calm my storm.  I realized that the reason for my distress was  I got drained with all the tasks I have to do for the community. And yet, our Feast still ended up being closed down leaving our efforts futile.

Today, I am trying to do what Mary would have done. From three ministries, I have requested to reduce it to one. I plan to dedicate most of the time to listening by being just a regular attendee again rather than being part of the operational ministries. I admit that I have busied myself with too much work before that the most essential part was drowned out of the picture.  Now I have to go back to the heart of it all, to be at Jesus’ feet falling in love with His Words again. 

Prayer

Dear Father, there are a lot of things happening around us which are often unforeseen. This New Year, may we be able to imitate our Mother’s humility and calmness despite chaos and not to be overwhelmed by fleeting emotions. May we be able to discern God’s message in every situation and obey with trust and confidence in His will. Amen.