Whether it involves traveling to visit family and friends out of town, dinner reservations or a simple, quiet evening at home watching college football and sharing good food with my husband (and our dog), I often forget to invite God into my plans for ringing in the new year. God is indeed present with us as we celebrate this holiday, as He is in all days. Sacred tradition isn’t particularly obvious in the festivities surrounding New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, but you might be surprised to learn there is some religious significance.
The close of the Christmas Octave, (the eight days following the Christ child’s birth) falls on January 1. In keeping with Jewish tradition, it was on this day that our Lord was circumcised and named Jesus, the name given to Him by the angel Gabriel, before He was conceived in the womb, when he appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary to reveal God’s plan for her life. ‘Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.” (Luke, 1:38 NAB). It is on this day, the feast of the Solemnity of Mary, that we honor Mary as the Mother of God.
“Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this sense the Church’s Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary. Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the “Seat of Wisdom.” — Catechism of the Catholic Church 721
The Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God is not a holy day of obligation this year because it falls on a Saturday, but I’m sharing today’s gospel reading because it is such a beautiful depiction of the Blessed Mother’s humble love.
The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,
they made known the message
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.
When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke, 2:16-21)
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day is a time of renewal, refreshment, and recommitment. I often forget it is also an especially good time to spend a few minutes with God in prayer and contemplative thought.
Prayers for the New Year
- As the dawn breaks on a new year, let us give thanks for all we hold dear: our health, our family and our friends. Let us release our grudges, our anger and our pains, for these are nothing but binding chains. Let us live each day in the most loving ways, the God-conscious way. (https://www.xavier.edu › online-resources › prayer-index)
- Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the our of our death. Amen.
- I wish you a year filled with serenity and happiness: may you always be certain of God’s love for us. As he did two thousand years ago, Christ comes today with his saving Gospel to guide the uncertain and faltering steps of peoples and nations, leading them towards a future of true hope. I ask him to bless this moment of festivity and good wishes, that it may be the promising beginning of a new millennium filled with joy and peace. Let us enter the Year 2000 with our eyes fixed on the mystery of the Incarnation. Christ, yesterday, today and for ever. To him belong time and the ages. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen! I thank you. Happy New Year to all. Praised be Jesus Christ! —-Pope John Paul II, Jan. 1, 2000
- Dear brothers and sisters, it is only by pondering in the heart, in other words, by piecing together and finding unity in all we experience, that, following Mary, we can penetrate the mystery of a God who was made man out of love and who calls us to follow him on the path of love; a love to be expressed daily by generous service to the brethren. May the new year which we are confidently beginning today be a time in which to advance in that knowledge of the heart, which is the wisdom of saints. Let us pray, as we heard in the First Reading, that the Lord may “make his face to shine” upon us, “and be gracious” to us (cf. Nm 6: 24-7) and bless us. We may be certain of it: if we never tire of seeking his Face, if we never give in to the temptation of discouragement and doubt, if also among the many difficulties we encounter we always remain anchored to him, we will experience the power of his love and his mercy. May the fragile Child who today the Virgin shows to the world make us peacemakers, witnesses of him, the Prince of Peace. Amen! —-Pope Benedict XVI, Jan. 1, 2008
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