Fireworks Without God’s Work?
Homily on 1 Jan 2023, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Sta. Maria Goretti Parish
A happy and grace-filled New Year to all of you! Today we celebrate not only the New Year 2023 but above all the eighth day of the birth of our Lord, and the solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. Merry Christmas! Brothers and sisters thank you for coming here on this first day of 2023. I would like to believe that you are here because you have realized that Jesus is God’s greatest gift to us and to all of humanity. He indeed is the only one who has given us the greatest joy and hope; for in him we have experienced God’s overwhelming love and unbounded compassion and countless other blessings as well, both material and spiritual. Do you agree with me? Say Yeah!
The year 2022 has been a very challenging year with all the terrible calamities, disasters and tragedies that have befallen us including this seemingly unstoppable covid-19 pandemic aggravated still by the war between Russia and Ukraine. However from hindsight we realized that while we have lost so much, and have shed buckets of tears, we have actually gained so much more. We have learned many lessons; we have deepened our spirituality; we have strengthened our relationships; we have become better persons, much better than before the pandemic. Thanks to the gift of our Catholic FAITH. Looking through these sad and terrible events with the eyes of faith, at times twice enabled by the magnifying glass of tears, we see the mighty power of God who has been carrying us by the hand and enabling us to overcome all the trials, and giving us hope for better days to come. Thanks above all to Jesus whose birth is our salvation and our hope for 2023.
Now, as we look with awe and amazement at the cute little Baby Jesus at this beautiful Belen in front of us, we turn our gaze also on the Virgin Mary, his Blessed Mother. She is in fact one of the main reasons why we have come to Mass today, January 1. Because of her courageous and generous YES to God’s call, the birth of the promised Savior had become a reality. Therefore, she also is a big blessing to the whole world. Hence, if Mary became instrumental for the birth of the promised Messiah twenty centuries ago, today she can still be instrumental for the birth of the Savior and Prince of Peace in our hearts, esp. in the hearts of people who are still slaves of sin, people who are still sick and suffering, people who are in crisis, in conflict or at war against each other,… including us, who are asking for God’s blessings at the beginning of this New Year 2023.
Last midnight during the countdown I was with my family at the thirty-fourth floor of a high rise condominium watching the fireworks display all around Metro Manila. Then shortly after that we also watched on the flat screen the countdown in other big cities of the world, like Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo and Hong Kong. While marveling at the beautiful fireworks display that were meant not only to welcome the New Year but also to ward off the evil spirits, I realized that in the long run all these enormously big expenses will very quickly be reduced to smoke, dust and ashes without the transforming power of God’s mighty hand blessing the entire world. After all, what are fireworks without God’s work? I realized too that what remains to be the best way to welcome the New Year and to overcome the evil one is none other than a faith-filled prayer which we as a family have done. And this is precisely what we are gathered here to do – to offer to God a sacrifice of praise, thanksgiving and petition through the celebration of the Holy Mass. This is precisely God’s work.
The first reading we have heard today from the book of Numbers is very timely. The Lord gives instruction to Aaron on how to invoke a blessing to the Israelites as they make the difficult journey across the desert towards the Promised Land. He says: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: (1) May the Lord bless you and keep you. (2) May the Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you, and (3) May the Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace. Aren’t these prayerful wishes beautifully inspiring and powerfully transforming?
At that time the Israelites, who were on a long journey to the Promised Land, believed that without God’s blessings they would run the risk of suffering various misfortunes along the way, including various types of illnesses, enemy attacks, or natural calamities that could eventually lead to death. Without God’s blessings, they believed that life’s trials could be extremely difficult, distressing and unbearable. God knew well his peoples’ needs. That is he appointed Aaron as high priest to be his living instrument, the one who would invoke his blessings to come down and remain with his people.
As God appointed Aaron long ago, He appoints today certain persons whom he has put in authority. For example, every father or mother as head of the family has been chosen by God to become his instruments of blessing for their own children and grand children. Similarly every superior appointed to lead and animate his/her religious community, and likewise every priest and bishop has been chosen by God to be an instrument of blessing for the much bigger Church.
Isn’t it beautiful to realize that we Catholics, faithful to this beautiful biblical tradition, consider our parents and grandparents, our pastors and lay leaders as instruments of God’s blessings for the family and the community? In fact here we Filipino Catholics continue to live out this tradition of honoring and respecting our elders even today, be they priests, parents or simply elders with the typical Filipino gesture called the “Mano po”. In return, the elder would respond, by saying “Kaawaan ka ng Diyos” or “May God have mercy on you” as they lay his/her hand on the children.
On this eighth day of Christmas, while our focus is still on Jesus, Mary is presented to us as the Mother of God, worthy of our respect and veneration. In the gospel we have just heard we see the shepherds going in haste to Bethlehem where they found Mary and Joseph and the infant lying in a manger. Having given birth to Jesus, the Savior of the world, she is now venerated as the most powerful mother in the world with the corresponding title “Mother of God”. And yet the most inspiring words from the gospel passage we heard today from St Luke are the Following, “Mary… pondered everything in her heart.”
Today through the powerful intercession of our Blessed Mother and the powerful protection of St. Joseph, we too can look forward to the many births of Jesus in our lives and in the lives of children and young people who need a Savior. Jesus is the only blessing we really need. Jesus is the only Savior the world really needs, for He is the greatest blessing we all can ever have coming straight from the heart of God. And so, whatever trials and tragedies 2023 might be awaiting us, we will never be overcome, for we always have a God who is enormously much bigger than all the problems we might ever have to face.
May this Eucharist draw upon us all the blessings of the holy Child born today for our salvation; and may St. Joseph and Mama Mary be our models in serving this holy Infant and in bringing him, the Prince of Peace, to be born also in the hearts of many others. GiGsss!
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