New Year

 New Year – 2022

Some collections of thoughts and reflections

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)

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.

Mary was wonderfully blessed in the child she bore. The words spoken to her in Nazareth are almost an echo of the blessing given to Aaron, which occur in the first reading. "May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you."

Mary, Mother of God: Pregnancy, birth, choosing a name, and baptism (in the Jewish faith, circumcision) are great events for a young mother who goes through this experience for the first time. Only mothers can witness this wonderful time in their lives. Outsiders can only marvel about the beautiful miracle God works in a woman, time and again.

In the Second Reading, Paul states that Jesus was "born of a woman, born under the law"; in other words, thoroughly human, greatly determined by the love, care, education, example, and personality of his mother. This indicates the greatness of Mary. She is the mother of Jesus as man, but since Jesus is both God and man, Mary deserves the title of "Mother of God," just as any woman deserves the title of "mother of a medical doctor" if her son is one.

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.

Prayer for the New Year:

May our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the beginning and end, who is the Lord of all time, who in the fullness of time became human, who lived every moment of his life in love and service, who manifested himself to us, transfigured time through his resurrection, who filled time with his spirit, who made time the meeting point of God and us, and person to person, may give us the grace to find God and our sisters and brothers this year; may he fill quietly and calmly to the brim, every moment the Father gives us. And may we spend those moments creatively, joyfully for loving and living gratefully in our Father's beautiful world. Amen

Happy New Year 2022