Begin With A Blessing
The Lord said to Moses:
“Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them:
This is how you shall bless the Israelites.
Say to them:
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!
So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites,
and I will bless them.” (Nm 6:22-27)
Today is a new day and the dawn of a new year. We look at the former year and we can tell ourselves that it is over. All of the pain and struggle that we may have experienced last year should be left where it is — in the past. We look to the new year with hope.
As we begin our new year, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Mary can be called the Mother of God because she is the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, who, truly, is God.
We celebrate Mary for her faith and devotion and for her “yes” to the invitation to bring Jesus into our world.
That birth was the fulfillment of a promise made thousands of years prior by God and it was the beginning of great hope for us as Jesus would, ultimately, die on the cross and rise from the dead to destroy death and restore life.
That is why we begin our New Year reflecting upon Mary. She brings us hope.
We also begin the New Year echoing the words given to Moses. We begin with a blessing. 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!
We could look fearfully to the year ahead of us or we could look to a future filled with hope. I prefer to accept the blessing of God and look forward with hope!
FAITH ACTION: Ask the Lord to bless the people that come into your life today.