Homily for New Year’s Day (Solemnity of Mary Mother of God)
New Year’s Resolution
Lk 2:16-21
Hopefully, this is not just a greeting. For us, Christians, let this also be a prayer – that God may grant us a peaceful and fruitful new year. Let me, then, begin with a blessing using the ancient formula mentioned in the first reading: “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!” (Num 6:24-26).
As we enter the New Year, we look back at the past year. We humbly acknowledge God’s abundant graces bestowed on us, despite our unworthiness. And so, we come together to thank and praise Him for His loving providence and protection. Yet, looking back, we also admit that we had our failures and shortcomings, and we have not fulfilled our resolutions. And so, we bow our heads in humble sorrow, asking God’s forgiveness and mercy.
And so, this New Year, once again we make some resolutions. This is what we do at the beginning of every year. But honestly, have we really fulfilled all those New Year’s resolutions in the past? There are two main reasons why we have failed to accomplish most of our resolutions. First, it is because most of them are not resolutions but are actually mere wishes. There is a vast difference between a wish and a resolution.
A wish is a desire to attain a particular goal, while a resolution specifically identifies the concrete steps to be taken to reach that goal. A wish says, “I want to pass the Board Examination.” A resolution will say, “I will commit four hours of study every day, set aside my Facebook account and cell phone, and have more time for prayer each day.” A wish will say, “I want to be a better Christian this year.” A resolution says, “I will faithfully pray the Rosary daily, attend Mass every Sunday, go to Confession every month, extend my help to those who come to me for help, and volunteer in the liturgical ministry of the parish.” When there is no concrete course of action, it is just a wish and not a resolution. And nothing will come out of it. In our New Year’s resolutions, we must be ready to take action and be willing to sacrifice.
Second, we have not been able to accomplish our resolutions because perhaps we did not pray enough and, instead, relied solely on our own human powers. As Psalm 127 puts it, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build. Unless the Lord guards the city, in vain does the guard keep watch.” Ultimately, it is God alone who can bring to fruition all our efforts and endeavors. As we always say, “Man proposes, God disposes.” It is important, therefore, that our resolutions are fully grounded on faith in God. Then He will help us fulfill them according to His plan. “Do your best and God will do the rest.”
We need to acknowledge the truth that absolute power resides in God alone. And so, the most powerful man is not he who has lots of money, or who wields political power, or who has weapons of mass destruction. Rather, it is the one who bends his knees and prays to God. As a quotation says, “When man works, it is only man who works. But when man prays, God works.”
Queridos amigos y amigas:
A los ocho días de la Navidad, celebramos a Santa María, Madre de Dios. El Hijo y la Madre. El Niño y la Mujer. La Presencia y la Esperanza.
En el relato de Lucas, los pastores se acercan al portal y descubren “a María, a José y al niño”. Cuando nos acercamos a Dios, siempre nos encontramos a la vez con sus testigos, y eso nos hace a la vez testigos: “todos los que oían se admiraban de lo que decían los pastores”. María es la mujer testigo de la fuerza de Dios en la debilidad y de la respuesta humana en generosidad. Encontrarnos con ella también nos hace testigos valientes, desde nuestra debilidad, en medio de nuestro mundo.
En el Evangelio de hoy se nos dice algo más: “María guardaba todo esto en su corazón”. El Corazón de María es el cofre donde se conserva todo lo valioso, como regalo de la vida para desplegar la existencia en gratuidad y en generosidad. Así fue la vida de María: recibiendo lo que Dios le fue dando, acogiendo lo que le fue pidiendo y desplegándose de dentro a fuera, desde el corazón al mundo.
El año nuevo es abierto por María como un signo de lo que fue su vida y de lo que puede ser la nuestra: apertura, confianza, entrega. ¡Feliz año nuevo! ¡Feliz día de María! En el comienzo de este nuevo año, junto a María, madre de Dios y madre de la Iglesia, te ofrezco lo que soy para que, como en ella, mi vida sirva a esta historia de amor con la humanidad que tienes pensada desde siempre y para siempre.
Que así sea.