BLESSED ARE YOU THIS NEW YEAR. (Homily for New Year Eve Mass, December 31st 2015).


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!

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