Lk 2:16–21
So they [shepherds] came hurriedly, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. On seeing him they related what they had been told about the child, and all were astonished on hearing the shepherds.
As for Mary, she treasured all these words, and pondered them in her heart.
The shepherds then returned, giving glory and praise to God for all they had heard and seen, just as the angels had told them.
On the eighth day the circumcision of the baby had to be performed; he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
REFLECTION:
As we begin a new year, it is but fitting to honor Mary as the Mother of God. The readings remind us of God’s faithfulness and goodness—in loving us and in gifting us with his Son, Jesus. It is as if God is filling us up according to the size of the cup we are holding before the Divine presence. God wants to fill up our containers to the brim, so that we may never feel empty and unfulfilled, and so that in Jesus we may know what it means to belong and to be part of a family. Mary invites us to pause as she did, so we may discover the blessings present in our life situations. Perhaps she was asking herself why she was so privileged not only to be the mother of the Messiah but also to belong to God? There are moments in our life when we also wonder why we are where we are. We need time to ponder, to treasure and to discover the purpose of our life situation, in the same way that Mary needed time to treasure and ponder in her heart the meaning of the events that accompanied her son’s birth.
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