Sunday 1 January
Mary, the Holy Mother of God Gospel - Luke 2:16-21 “As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart”. Treasuring and pondering…which the heart of Mary, the Holy Mother of God does! How she does that? She does that by saying “fiat” to the will of God and the Word of God always. A constant “yes” to the Word of God can be only the result of treasuring and pondering of the effect of the same Word of God in her life. Not just any treasuring and pondering but doing it in her heart. Doing it in the depth of the soul, in her heart. The Word of God becomes the only treasure and all the thoughts come from it. Only if we really think about the context of the Gospel, we will understand what it means “treasuring and pondering”! They did not get place in inn, the child is born in manger, some shepherds passed by to greet the child… so what is she treasuring and pondering…? It’s the faith in the Word of God that she is treasuring and pondering despite all the contrary situations in which she is living and experiencing. Let’s reflect: are we ready to continue treasuring and pondering the Word of God despite the contradictories which we live?
Saturday 31 December
7th day within the octave of Christmas Saint Silvester I, Pope Gospel - John 1:1-18 “The Word was made flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth”. The Word continues to live among us in different ways. We can see His glory in different occasions. His glory filled with grace. The truth of incarnation is a reality of everyday life. The presence of God amongst us is a fact of daily life. When we acknowledge that presence in our life, in our day today experiences, we will start to see His glory also present in our life. From recognizing the presence of God to seeing the Glory of God, filling with grace in our life. Being in the last day of this year, it’s a moment to see all these grace-filled moments of 2022. Let’s fill our hearts with gratitude and love. This is very important to underline again the loving presence of God assured for 2023, so that we can see the glory of God present by His grace in each moment of our life.
Friday 30 December
The Holy Family Gospel - Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 “So, Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt…...So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel.” Getting up, taking the child and his mother, and moving to the destination indicated by the angel of the Lord is being the Holy Family. Because the life of the Holy Family revolves around the Holy Child, Jesus. Joseph follows the instructions of the angel of the Lord, follows the Word of God. Mary follows Joseph. Prophecies about the Jesus is being fulfilled through their actions. Jesus is the centre of their life. We can also become part of this Holy family. Putting Jesus in centre of our life is the way to become part of this Holy Family. To put Jesus in the centre of our life, we must get up, get up from our comfort zones; we must detach from our plans. Then we must take Jesus and his mother and move together. That means, we must act with love to put Jesus in the midst of our life. Whenever we act with love for the other, we put Jesus in our midst. Sometimes we get up, we make sacrifices, but we forget to act with love, we forget to smile. Let’s reflect: Are we getting up from our comforts to put Jesus in the midst of our life and become part of the Holy Family?
Thursday 29 December
5th day within the octave of Christmas Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop, Martyr Gospel - Luke 2:22-35 “Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God”. How many times, we were prompted to do good things and we just ignored the prompting by the Holy Spirit. Simeon did this because his only intention was to set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. When we have different intentions, it’s difficult to follow the prompting by the Holy Spirit. All our intentions must be centered around the one intention. The intention of seeing Christ. When we have this disposition, we will follow the promptings by the Holy spirit. Otherwise, we follow other intentions according to our selfishness. In all those occasions, we lost the opportunity to take Jesus in our arms and bless God. Let’s reflect: Do we follow the promptings by the Holy Spirit or the promptings of our selfishness?