January 1, 2006
Psalm 67: 2-3, 5, 6, 8 READING 2: Galatians 4:4-7
GOSPEL: Luke 2:16-21
Happy New Year, everyone! I pray that the Lord may enrich your lives during the New Year with an abundance of good blessings! And I pray that his Blessed Mother, our Queen of Peace, will intercede for us as we pray for peace. Today is the feast of Mary, Mother of God and is being celebrated by Catholics throughout the world. We honor her because He, Jesus, is her Son and our Savior. We know that good sons of good mothers honor their moms and we know He would want us to do the same. Those shepherds were protecting the flocks from the dangers of the night and yet they left everything and did as the angels told them. They knew that the greatest warrior king in their history was David, who started as a young ruddy cheeked shepherd boy. They knew our God invites even shepherds to rise up into the larger story. After seeing the baby, they returned to their sheep exhilarated with joy. This baby was destined to bring joy to everyone of good will who would experience him forever after. A group of elderly residents of a nursing home were going on an outing. Their families thought it was wonderful and Okayed it. But it was a break in their routine and many of the elderly were cranky. They were grumbling amongst themselves when they got off the bus and went into a theater. As they waited for the lights to dim for the movie, a woman came into the theater with a two year old child. The child turned and looked over her mother’s shoulder at all the grumpy faces and started smiling at them. She began moving from lap to lap reaching out with joy, laughing at the people and chatting away with the elderly folk in her baby language. Instantly, the grim and murmuring atmosphere was changed into one of joy and happiness. One woman with her little child changed the hopeless and joyless into the bright and the beautiful. That’s the way God invites us into the larger story. God didn’t send didn’t send a warrior king, God tried that with David and it didn’t work for long. Instead, God sent His Son through a simple young girl who we celebrate today. This mother and her child actually continue to bring joy and happiness, beauty and brightness wherever they are welcomed. Their story invites everyone into the larger story. The twenty-something daughter of a parishioner dies unexpectedly and our Befrienders ministry and Bereavement ministry get together and prepare food and serve a luncheon after the funeral, at a non-Catholic church. “Rise up into the larger story!” Our teenagers baby-sit 80 little ones while their parents enjoy a night for each other in the middle of the Christmas rush. “Rise up into the larger story!” Our children’s choir go to Woodlawn Nursing Home and our adult choirs go to shut-ins homes to sing Christmas carols on the Saturday before Christmas. “Rise up into the larger story!” Family wish lists are chosen from the Jesse tree and Christmas gifts are delivered for the less fortunate; meals are prepared for the family with illness; volunteers decorate the church so beautifully , seats are added; the choirs magnificently capture the spirit; the ushers and greeters welcome the visitors as well as the familiar. Mother Teresa used to say, “We do small things with great love.” The Good News of the Bible is that it is an invitation to rise up into a larger story. It was true for Mary and Joseph, for the shepherds and Wise Men, for the apostles and for all of us. In this New Year may everyone of us accept the invitation to “Come on up into the larger story!” May God let His face shine upon us and be gracious to us. May God look kindly on us and give us peace in 2006!Fr. Jeff McGowan |
