Mary, Mother of God 01-01-2025
Numbers 6:22-27 / Galatians 4:4-7 / Luke 2:16-21
On this first day of the new year, it is certainly good to come to church to pray.
After all, it would be a good start for a year.
But in truth, on this first day of the new year, we need to come to church, we must come to church.
We need to come to church to pray and to ask for God's blessings and protection.
Yes, we ask for God's blessings because we know that we cannot do anything well without God's help.
And with His help, God will also give us His protection and guidance, so that we won't be distracted or discouraged.
So, we come to church on this first day of the new year to pray for all that.
But the first day of the new year is also the eighth day of the Christmas Octave for the Church.
On this eighth day of the Christmas Octave, we hear in the gospel that Mary and Joseph named the child Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before His conception.
The name Jesus is a profound name. It means God saves, or, God is salvation.
And on this day, the Church also honours Mary under the title of “Mother of God”.
That also proclaims that Jesus is God.
And that also reminds us of what Jesus said when He was on the Cross: This is your mother.
So, on this first day of the new year, we turn to Jesus, our God and our Saviour.
We present to Him our needs, our intentions and our petitions.
And together with the intercession of Mary our Mother, we can be assured of this:
That Jesus will hear and answer our prayers, and He will also protect and guide us.
That is what we really need to begin the new year with.
And with the intercession of Mary our Mother, may the Lord bless us and keep us, may He shine His face on us and be gracious to us, and may the Lord grant us peace as we begin the new year.