In With the New

Happy New Year! On January 1st, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. How wonderful is it that we are reminded on the first day of the year, on the day we embrace new beginnings, that we are not alone, that we indeed have a mother, a Mother in heaven who constantly prays for us and brings our needs before her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. How amazing is that!

During New Year celebrations and other times when we celebrate new beginnings, we often hear the saying, “out with the old, in with the new.” Of course this saying is telling us to leave behind whatever is bad or upsetting and move forward in hope, in the hope that this new beginning will bring good things and good outcomes. However, I’d like to invite you to not necessarily completely be “out with the old,” in that let us not simply think whatever bad that happened did not happen, but let us instead allow the past to usher in the new. Let us not forget the past because without the past our present and future would have no meaning. Things are only better because we have the past to see how far we have come. Without the old, we would not appreciate the new. Hence, the Church Fathers remind us that our faith, our life in Christ is “ever ancient, ever new.” We must embrace both the old and the new because that is who we are.

On the last day of the year, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was called home to the Father. As I reflect on his life and pontificate, I am brought back to memories of the final days of Pope John Paul II’s life. I watched his funeral on TV and I remember how then Cardinal Ratzinger led the faithful in celebrating the late Pope’s life. Days later he was elected Pope. A few years later he made his Apostolic Visit to the United States. Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy was one that was a silent, quiet one, right after the long and extensive papacy of JPII. A silent but consequential papacy. Pope Benedict XVI was a scholar, a theologian, and a humble servant who labored extensively in the vineyard of the Lord, knowing that he needed not see the harvest to labor well — something we ought to remind ourselves often. We labor primarily not for gains or to receive praise and accolades, but for that to which we have been called.

As we begin this new year, let us yes, leave behind all of our sadness and disappointments, but let us learn from them and allow them to propel us into the new year, so that as we embrace “in with the new” we might remember who we are, where we are from, how far we have come, and know that we are not alone on this journey this new year, for Our Mother Mary walks with us.

Happy New Year!

Going in Haste

“When the angels went away from them to heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
‘Let us go, then, to Bethlehem
to see this thing that has taken place,
which the Lord has made known to us.’
So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.”

Luke 2:15-16

Merry Christmas! Christ is born! Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of goodwill! “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” the song sings, and it is indeed! But not because of the presents or days off from work and school (which are all good!) but because of why we have those presents and days off. What is wonderful is not just the fruits but more importantly, the reason. It is the most wonderful time of the year because God has come close to us, He has become man, and He has come to save us. The Angels appeared to the shepherds out on the plains of Bethlehem and shared with them the great gift that has been gifted to humanity, and what was their response? They got up and went to see!

Luke tells us the shepherds “went in haste” and when they arrived, they found the Holy Family. What made them go in haste? Was it the fear with which they were struck when the Angels appeared to them? Was it the fascination of what they were told they would find? Was it curiosity to see if what was said was true? Whatever “it” was, it made them go, and hurriedly. The shepherds exhibited an urgency. Just as Mary went “in haste” to Elizabeth when the Angel told her Elizabeth was with child, so too these shepherds. Perhaps for Mary the “it” was the fact that her cousin was with child and she wanted to rush over to help her and for the shepherds the “it” was the curiosity and fascination of the message proclaimed to them. The common thread here about the “it” is that “it” is good news. Mary went in haste when she was told of the good news that Elizabeth will bear a child and the shepherds when in haste when they were told the Good News that a Messiah and Savior was born for them. The natural response and reaction to Good News is the need to go and see and to share the Good News. Think about the last time you received some sort of good news? What was it? How did you feel? How did you respond?

Today the Good News that Christ is born and that God has become man so that we might die no more is proclaimed to us. What will our response be? Will we go in haste to tell others? Will we go in haste to thank the Lord? Will we go in haste to serve Him in others? May we, like Mary and the shepherds, go in haste today to thank God for the gift of His Son and to share this tremendous, life-changing news to all we meet. Let’s not keep this Good News to ourselves. Merry Christmas!

Signs of the Times

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel.”

Isaiah 7:14

Part of what makes us human and set apart from other creatures is that we have the capacity to reason. We are able to take in stimuli from the outside world, see how it connects or relates to what we already know, and to make a judgment that is moral and conscience-based. We are able to interpret the signs that are around us and as a result of that, we are able to make changes in our lives.

What are the signs around us? Violence and war. Gun fatalities and murders. Drug addiction and substance abuse. Poverty and homelessness. These are the signs that I see and the signs that I feel God is allowing us to see and perceive. Some may perceive this as signs of God’s absence and apathy. How do you see these signs? For Christians we know that God is good and that He is love and that He is omnipresent. So, He can’t be absent or apathetic. For Christians then, perhaps, these signs may lead us to a seemingly helpless “I am sure God has a reason.” But there is more. These signs of death and violence lead us not to believe that the Enemy has conquered life, but ought to lead us to realize and remember that there are also other signs. This ought to lead us to see that there is indeed life and peace.

Although these signs of violence and death are prominent — right before our eyes, on the news, we know, deep down in our hearts and souls that there are signs of hope and life. Yes, we read of homicides everyday, but we also know that new lives are being brought into the world everyday. There are numerous cases of robbery, but we also know there are organizations out there who give to the less fortunate. Yes, we see the enemy at work, but we also know God is at work and that He has already conquered the world. He gave us a sign — a sign that is Himself, a sign that tells us He is with us always; He is Emmanuel.

When the Prophet Isaiah asked King Ahaz to ask God for a sign, he refused. At face value this seems like a very pious decision, showing that he dare not ask God to prove Himself. However, Ahaz has already done evil in the eyes of God, forming alliances with foreign nations. He chose to not turn to God and beg for His help, but rather placed his trust in the Assyrians, under which the Kingdom of Judah was nothing more than a region controlled by them. Like the Israelites who complained to Moses that they rather be slaves in Egypt than to fight and struggle for their freedom, Ahaz led the people of God to slavery once again. But Isaiah tells Ahaz that God will give a sign, a sign that there will be a Savior, a Messiah, who will be God Himself. Even when man turns away from Him, God is already planning for his redemption. This is the sign on which we must keep our eyes: God’s abiding promise, the incarnation, the gift of God becoming one of us to save us from ourselves.

Let not the signs of the times trouble our hearts, but rather, allow them to lead us to see the greater sign that is God Himself, God who gives us hope in the midst of despair, life in the face of death, and light that scatters the darkness. He is Emmanuel, God-with-us, and He will never part from us.