Thursday, January 3, 2013

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Cycle C - January 1, 2013


Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God
Cycle C
January 1, 2013 8:30 and 10am

Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air


Our American Calendar


Our American calendar is marked with certain days that we celebrate each year. 

For example, we observe Martin Luther King’s birthday in January, President’s Day in February, Independence Day on July 4, and on it goes.  These annual observances help us remember who we are as Americans. 

Year after year this regular calendar helps to deepen our appreciation of our heritage.  It helps to keep us together as a people.

Our Church Calendar

Our Catholic Church also has a calendar. 

We have an annual cycle of observances and celebrations in our liturgy.   Each year, we have Advent and Christmas, and then Lent and Easter.

We have thirty-three Sundays that we call Ordinary Time, and this parallels everyday life and our efforts to live well and even grow spiritually.  And, of course, there are certain special days, like All Saints Day, or today, Mary the Mother of God. 

This Church calendar helps us to remember year after year what our relationship with God is.  It helps us to deepen our spiritual identity. 

Mary


Mary, whom we honor today, seems to have centered her life around the religious observances of her day.

For example, today we hear that when Jesus was eight days old, he was circumcised and given his name.  In this past Sunday’s gospel, we heard that each year, Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover.

The gospels also mention other instances of synagogue or Passover observance.  So I am saying that Mary gave herself to this religious calendar and this helped her to remember who she was in relation to God.

Mary’s faith was enriched by following year after year the cycle of observances on the religious calendar.  This enabled her to cooperate with God in bringing the divine into our world.  

Our Observance of Calendar

Today we begin a new calendar year and I recommend that we approach our Church calendar with the same spirit that we see in Mary.

It can be tempting to see this as repetitive, as just the same thing over and over again.  I recommend, instead, that we view our Church year as a positive opportunity for strength and growth.

First, the Church calendar allows God to speak to some important human needs.

These are needs for joy, hope, peace, trust, and also for challenge and forgiveness.  These human needs are re-occurring in us and each year the rhythm of the Church calendar speaks to these in a helpful way.

Second, the Church calendar allows for the deepening over time of our inner self and our relationship with God.

It puts us in touch with where we came from, where we are going, and how we are to live this earthly journey.  It also leads us to know God more and more fully and to grow in our inner relationship with God.

And third, the Church calendar forms us as a community.

It gives us an identity as God’s people, as Christians and as Catholic Christians.  It forms us into a people united in the basics of faith, in the hope of the fullness of life, and in the love of God and neighbor.

Conclusion

So, a new calendar year, 2013, leads me to look at Mary as one who lived the religious calendar of her time.

Her example is a good one for us.  Our observing the Church year will enable us to be instruments of the divine entering more and more fully into our world, much as Mary did as the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of God.