Happy New Year

On December 10, I underwent lumbar (spinal) surgery at Endeavor Hospital of Elmhurst. Six days after the surgery, I was transferred to Alden Estates of Orland Park for a period of recuperation and rehabilitation. Consequently, I missed half of Advent and the beginning of the Christmas season. Instead of the homily for today's solemnity, I am posting my reflections as a part of my blog.

“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.”

This Shepherds occupied the lower rungs of the social and economic ladder. Their work was physically demanding, required long periods away from settled communities, and offered little opportunity for advancement. Because shepherds spent most of their time outdoors and away from towns, they could not easily maintain the ritual purity required for full participation in Jewish religious life. They were not moral outcasts, but they were outwardly dirty and liturgically unclean. Their lifestyle “kept them at the fringes of settled community life and religious observance.” While some may have regarded them as “sinners,” the Pharisees looked upon anyone who was not liturgically clean as a sinner. As Jesus reveals in the Gospels, Jesus came for the sinners rather than the righteous. The image of the shepherd is used throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as the Christian Scriptures. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and Moses were all shepherds the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures, often portrayed God as a shepherd. Finally, perhaps the most well-known psalm, Psalm 23, proclaims the Lord as “my shepherd.”

At the same time, we might be able to point to the factor that of the shepherds that inhabited the hills around Bethlehem were particularly important because they almost certainly guarded the flocks of the sheep who would be used for temple sacrifices. Jesus refers to himself as the “Good Shepherd.” It must also be pointed out that John the evangelist proclaimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God.

The Gospel of Saint Luke points out the fact that the birth of Jesus was announced to the shepherds by an angel who guided them to the manger in Bethlehem. The Gospel goes on to tell us that when they had seen Jesus, they responded by telling everyone about what they had seen and heard. They might be called, therefore, the very first evangelists - the first to proclaim the birth of our Savior.

The Gospel goes on to tell us that Mary kept all these memories in her heart, reflecting upon them throughout her life. The first time that she appears in St. John’s Gospel is at the wedding feast of Cana where she tells the servants to do everything that Jesus tells them to do. Therefore, we call Mary not only the Mother of God, but also the first disciple of Jesus. 

Mary, the Mother of God, occupies a special place in the spirituality of our Catholic faith. She is not only the Mother of God, she is also our mother, given to us by Jesus as he hung on a cross, dying for our sins. Tradition tells us that Mary lived in the house of the unnamed beloved disciple who appears in the Gospel of St. John on three occasions. While this disciple is never explicitly named, the Church often identifies him as John the Apostle and John the Evangelist.

The observance of this solemnity on January 1, was restored to the Roman calendar by Pope St. Paul VI in 1974. It replaced the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus and was also known as the World Day of Peace. However, the observance of the Solemnity of Mary goes back to at least the fifth century in the history of the Church. In the year 431 A.D., the Council of Ephesus formally defined Christ’s divinity and Mary’s role as his true mother. This title is rooted in Scripture, and emphasizes Mary’s divine maternity. 

The readings chosen by the Church for this celebration highlight our relationship and our responsibility as Catholic Christians. The reading from the Book of Numbers for all of God’s children to be people of peace. In St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, he reminds us that through the Incarnation of Jesus, we have all become adopted children of God. And in the Gospel of Saint Luke, we are called to be evangelists and disciples with the shepherds and Mary as our examples. May this new year bring us peace, unity, and a strengthening of our faith in God who chose to become one of us.