Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all of you. Today we gather to conclude this Octave of Christmas with the celebration of Mary, the Mother of God. From today's Gospel we heard familiar words because we were told that "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." These should be familiar words because this past Sunday, the Feast of the Holy Family, Saint Luke's Gospel said "his mother kept all these things in her heart." We must therefore ask ourselves what it was that Mary was pondering within her own heart. We must ask ourselves what we need to ponder within our hearts to draw ourselves closer to the infant lying inside of the manger who is the word made flesh. As we enter into this new year we look ahead at what awaits us and should realize that the world is a very busy place that leaves little time for proper reflection. Despite that we should take the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary upon ourselves by accepting our faith and "reflecting on (it) in (our) heart."
Mary had experienced a lot within the first twelve years of her son's life and would continue to experience a lot as he headed into his public ministry and eventual death upon the cross. On the day of the Annunciation the angel Gabriel came to her and exclaimed "you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call him Jesus." Now with the birth of her son beginning to take place she is finally beginning to see the unfolding of all that the angel had proclaimed to her. From the words that were given to her from the shepherds who came to adore her Son she began to realize the unfolding of his divinity. As she brought her Son into the temple to be presented to The Lord she was again reminded of the reality of her Son and at this she "marveled" at all that was said about him. When her Son went missing and was found inside of the temple Christ quickly stated "did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" Here Christ was pointing towards his divinity and at this Mary had a lot to reflect upon in her heart.
The divinity of her Son was the very thing that she was continually holding within her heart. Each day the reality of her Son was further revealed to her and through her reflection in these matters she was able to grow in her faith. Her faith and her reflection helped her to understand her role within the life of her Son. She began to realize the totality of each statement that had slowly been revealed to her throughout time. Gabriel who said "the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you." Elizabeth who exclaimed "blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" Simeon whose words revealed that "a sword will pierce your own soul also, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed." Through her ability to not just hear these words, but to take them to her heart she was able to show her true faith. Mary was able to take the divine truth that her Son was the Son of God and not only be receptive to this knowledge, but also continue to study and ponder it within her heart.
Concerning this verse Blessed John Henry Newman stated that "St. Mary is our pattern of Faith, both in the reception and in the study of Divine Truth. She does not think it enough to accept, she dwells upon it; not enough to possess, she uses it; not enough to assent, she develops it; not enough to submit to Reason, she reasons upon it; not indeed reasoning first, and believing afterwards, with Zechariah, yet first believing without reasoning, next from love and reverence, reasoning after believing." As we head into this new year we should take time to reflect upon this past year and ask ourselves what ways we have fallen short in our quest for faith. Analyzing the many areas of our lives where we have been caught up in the busyness of the world and failed to make time to ponder on the reality of our faith in our hearts. We must be like the Blessed Virgin Mary who was able to be receptive to truth and then continue to study and dwell with it.
In our world it can become easy to go against this model of the reception of faith that Mary gives to us and thus fall into doubt concerning matters of faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church distinguishes between two types of doubt concerning faith, the voluntary and the involuntary. Voluntary doubt concerning faith "disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief." Involuntary doubt concerning faith "refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness." We are all human and at times doubt will arise within our lives especially at moments where we grow into adulthood, are tested in some way, and even face the reality of death. Doubt also arises in our lives when we fail to see the totality of Christ's teachings and desire to turn away from them to do as we wish. Mary gives the example to take what we receive and to follow it with our whole hearts. Once we receive our faith we must continue to ponder it within our hearts through study and prayer. Through our study and prayer amidst any doubt, struggle, or fear may our hearts keep us close to the divine Saviour of the World.
May each of us use this new year that lies before us to make time to ponder matters of faith within our hearts. Let us not rush through this new year without making the much needed time to draw ourselves closer to Christ through our faith. Rushing through another year following after sports, school, materialism, or our jobs as our primary focus is to push Christ to the side instead of allowing Him to be our primary focus. May Mary, the Mother of God come here this day and assist each of us to ponder in our hearts our faith and to draw ourselves closer to her Divine Son and away from everything which disorients us from this path of faith.
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