Bible Study: Numbers 6, 22 to 27. Galatians 4, 4 to 7. Luke 2, 16 to 21.
Good evening my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let me start by
saying HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all. Hope you had a wonderful day and thanks be to
God you are ending not just this year but this entire year in the right place –
inside the House of God. There is indeed no better way to end the year than to
come into God’s presence to say “Thank You.” The year has been a very eventful
one, as usual with its own unique ups and downs but the mere fact that you are
ending this year alive is enough reason to be Happy and Grateful. And this
evening, we are celebrating the solemnity of a woman who remained cheerful and
grateful despite the many challenges she had to put up with in taking on the responsibility
of being the mother of Jesus.
Leave it or take it, being a mother is not an easy task at all. It takes
courage, wisdom and perseverance to bring a child to this world and be there
for that child, nurturing, feeding and protecting that child till he becomes
somebody in life. This is why I will never stop thanking every successful
mother on planet earth. Aren’t mothers blessed? Yes, they are highly blessed.
And in today’s Gospel passage, we are told “She treasured all these
things in her heart.” She wasn’t noisy, she wasn’t a gossiping woman, she
wasn’t a boastful woman trying to make other women envy her, she wasn’t a
nagging and complaining woman either, who tries to make everyone think the
burden of the world is on her neck, she just accepted everything gracefully and
quietly. She would not open her mouth to speak till the wedding feast at Cana
where she begged her son to work his first miracle. And when he agreed to do
this, her mouth was shut again till she saw her son been dragged and spat upon
like a criminal. This time, she did have the strength to utter a word, her
tears and gazes upon Jesus were more than words.
At the beginning of the year like this, the church celebrates the
solemnity of Mary thereby committing the entire year to her maternal
intercession. As we begin a new year, we ought to emulate the outstanding
disposition of Mary. She was told she had a great responsibility to carry and
she did not complain, she was waiting for it. All she said was “I am the
handmaid of God, let it be done according to God’s will.” That should be our
number one statement as we enter 2016. We all have great expectations for this New
Year but we do not know how it will turn out to be, so all we can say is “God,
we are nothing but pieces of clay in your hands, let 2016 be done according to
your will.” This is better than making countless numbers of resolutions that we
know we would never keep. And if we must make any resolutions, we must add
“according to your will O God.”
Mary accepted the plan of God in her life, she took in the highs and the
lows, she was ready for the joys as well as the pains involved. She never gave
up but continued to look forward gallantly in hope to that day of her reward
when all generations would actually start calling her blessed. I would be a
false prophet to say that in 2016, you will never experience any low moments or
that you will never shed a tear. I would rather pray for you that like Mary,
you may have the courage to see beyond the pains and enjoy the joys that 2016
shall bring. Come to think of it, what would life be if we do not experience
tough times at all? Perhaps we would never appreciate the good times when they
come.
I pray that in this year, your 6ood times shall be better than your bad
times and the joys that those good times would bring will leave you feeling
truly grateful, so grateful that when bad times come, you will still have the
courage to thank God again and again. This was Mary’s attitude to life and what
kept her going, the time she had to carry a pregnancy and face shame since she
was not yet married, the time she had to travel all the way with Joseph and
suffered being thrown out of inns and hotels to the extent she had to manage
the manger and give birth without assistance of proper midwives or experienced
doctors, the time she had to escape like a thief in the night with Joseph and
tiptoe with the baby all the way to Egypt at a time when there were no cars,
trains or private jets, at a time when travelling was so dangerous and roads
filled with bandits who could rob and leave their victims for dead, the time
she had to suffer humiliation before a twelve year old who instead of
apologizing said “Am I not supposed to be in my Father’s house?” In fact, the
list is endless…. But who even remembers all that today? In this year 2016, I
pray for you that your good days be so many that when it ends, you would barely
remember any bad day and by this time next year be so happy about the great
year you just had.
Mary is so outstanding today because she knew her role in God’s plan and
was willing to obey every detail, every command to the letter. When the Child
was born, she gave the very name “Jesus” in obedience to the Angel’s
instruction. She knew that through her, God was about to fulfil his promise. As
St. Paul say: “At the fullness of time, God sent his son BORN OF A WOMAN born
under the law, to redeem those under the law so that we might become Sons of
God.” Gal. 4:4ff. And that is what we are. We are no longer slaves, we have
received adoption as sons. Abraham, Isaac, Moses, name them, all the people of
Old Testament time were simply slaves, they obeyed God not as a matter of
choice but as slaves, they had no right to any form of inheritance. God could
have decided to keep them out of his kingdom no matter how holy they were. But
we, our story is entirely different!
We are sons, we are not slaves, thanks to the Son born of a woman, we
have a right to something, the more reason why we must strive to obey God more
than our ancestors did. You know the difference between a son and a slave? Both
of them eat the same food everyday but while one eats on a golden plate, the
other eats only the remnants, while one is only concerned about protecting the
house, the other is concerned about his monthly pay, while one obeys the
Father’s instruction always out of pure love and knowledge of right and wrong,
the other obeys ONLY when people are looking. Do not be surprised that many
Christians today live like slaves in God’s house when they should be sons. They
obey God only when people are watching, they serve God not for love of God but that
they may enter heaven someday, they do not read the bible but are content only
with remnants of what they learnt during their days of Sunday school or
catechism classes.
I pray for you that this new year, you shall rise to your true position
as a Son in God’s house. That you shall possess your possession. That you shall
eat no longer remnants but real food from the golden plate. That you shall be
well fed , that is, so blessed that you shall be a blessing to the people you
will meet throughout this year. I pray that you will no longer be content with
living a pretentious life but live out your Christian values, that you will be
light in the midst of darkness of sin and evil in our world, that you will obey
God out of your heartfelt love of him.
Above all, I pray for you as Moses prayed for the people: “The LORD
bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious
to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!” HAPPY NEW YEAR
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, I thank you with all my heart for this New Year. Make it be
the best year of my life. Amen.
God bless you. Good evening. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you. Happy New Year. Congratulations!
