Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
The Octave Day of Christmas
Today’s Gospel gives the account of the shepherds’ visit to the Holy Family. Not a word of what Mary might have said is given. The encounter is wrapped in silence. Does this silence tell me how I should meet the Lord in my prayer?
After their silent witness at Jesus’ birth, the shepherds announced to all what they saw had taken place. But “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” Silence. Recollection. Forty days later, Simeon told her a sword would pierce her heart. Was it in silent recollection that Mary came to know God’s will for herself and others? What does this say about my prayer?
And Joseph. He named the child Jesus, Savior. But how was the Savior to save, redeem the world? By suffering. Isn’t it in prayer where I learn that those closest related to Jesus were sharers in his suffering? From the moment of his conception, didn’t his mother share in a unique way in his sufferings? Doesn’t that make her, our mother, compassionate with her children who suffer today?
Resolve: I shall put aside my cell phone and reflect on the many people throughout the world who suffer without hope, without love, and I shall ask our mother Mary and St. Joseph to pray for them now and especially at the hour of their deaths.