MARY, MOTHER OF GOD - JANUARY 1-Homily In 1979, archaeologists were digging outside Jerusalem. Suddenly they stumbled upon a cave filled with jars, oil lamps, and jewelry. These objects, they discovered later, had been placed in the cave nearly 600 years before the birth of Jesus. One piece of jewelry, especially caught their attention It was a tiny silver scroll no bigger than a childs finger. A place for a cord through the center of it told them that it was once worn around the neck of some Israelite. When a Jewish scholar translated the words on the scroll, he could hardly believe his eyes. They were the words of blessing that God gave to Moses. They were the words of blessing that his own father used to bless him in his boyhood. They were the words of blessing that is still used today in synagogues and churches around the world. They were the words of the beautiful blessing we find in today s 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! How fitting these words are in the light of todays gospel. For Joseph undoubtedly used these same words to bless Jesus as he lay in the manger and again, as he held him in his arms just before giving him his name. On this feast of Mary the Mother of God- honoring the woman who was called blessed among women- lets look at how the Bible talks about the word blessing. The Bible talks about blessing: first about God blessing people. Thus God blesses Adam and Eve, saying, Be fertile and multiply. The purpose of blessing is to confer something special upon them: the power to reproduce themselves. Second, the Bible talks about people blessing God. Thus Paul writing to the Ephesians says, Blessed be the God... who has blessed us in everything. The purpose of the blessing is to thank and praise God for the undeserved blessings God gives us. Third, the Bible talks about people blessing other people. We read in Genesis about Isaac blessing his son Jacob. The purpose of the blessing is to ask God to confer on his son something special. Finally, the Bible talks about people blessing things. Thus Jesus himself blessed bread. The purpose of the blessing is to make bread holy in a special way for the benefit of his followers. In brief, then when God blesses us, its to give us something special. When we bless God, its to thank and praise God for some undeserved, special gift. This leads us to some practical conclusions. First, as we close out the old year, we should thank God for blessing us during the past year. Touching on the point of gratitude, there is a good comparison which I wish to bring to your attention. Suppose someone gave you a dish of sand mixed with fine iron filings. You look for the filings with your eyes, but you cant see them. You feel for them with your fingers, but you cant feel them. Then you take a tiny magnet and draw it through the sand in the dish. Suddenly the magnet is covered with iron filings. The ungrateful person, is like our fingers feeling for the filings. Such a person finds nothing in life to be grateful for. The grateful person, on the other hand, is like the magnet sweeping through the sand. That person finds hundreds of things to be grateful for. This brings us to a practical conclusion. Besides counting our blessings from God during the year, we should consider sharing some of our blessings with others during the coming year. For this is how we bless God for having blessed us. While we in America are blessed with plenty, there are others in the world who have very little. Let us on this feast of Mary the Mother of God, ask our Father to give us an appreciation of the many gifts he has given us during the past year. On this New Year Day, as we make one or another New Year resolution, let us ask our God to help us bless him in return during the coming year by sharing some of our gifts with others who have far, far less than we do.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 15:26:48 +0000
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