Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me, like Mother Mary, ponder all your works and words with my heart, mind and soul, and treasure them…

 
Luke 2:1-20

As we apprehensively walk forward into a new part of our Journey, entitled 2022, let us ponder …:
 
Jesus is the reason for the season…
Far beyond the age of Modernism, Post Modernism or Neo Liberalism, our world is now in the age of Grace and Truth, brought to earth by Christ Jesus. Born into the world just 2,000 years ago, at the eleventh hour of the 3.3 million years of human cultures that have come and gone in this world, Jesus brought into existence a new understanding of human identity that is still playing out in ‘history’. It is still, in 2022 the season of Grace and Truth; Jesus is still the reason for this season of reprieve from the complete annihilation of humankind on earth. Let us join Mary in her ‘Fiat’ , her ‘Yes’,  and her song, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour’. (Luke 1:38, 46-47)
 
Prepare, don’t despair …
It seems that nothing these days is predictable, let alone planned! The shifting world economies, ecosystems, and elements of life make going forward dizzying if not depressing. Mary too experienced obtuse uncertainty. In her late teens she was called by God to navigate an unplanned pregnancy, an unplanned trip to Bethlehem in her last week of pregnancy, and an unplanned trip – to Egypt, of all places for a Hebrew family to return to- when her baby was still a nursing infant. What did she do?  She walked forward, attuned to the purpose of God and prepared through years of prayer and righteous living, taking the best next step forward. “Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night and went to Egypt and stayed there until the death of Herod. (Matthew 2: 14)
 
Trace the Grace …
In her Magnificat of praise when Elisabeth affirmed that she was indeed carrying the Son of God in her womb, Mary recounted some of God’s deeds of Grace. This attitude of gratitude allowed Mother Mary to be one of three women and one disciple still standing at the crucifixion of her son Jesus, ‘God saves’, and living beyond that overwhelming event into the resurrection of the Messiah. Whenever we encounter traumatizing events, let us remember to trace the grace that God has woven into our lives so abundantly, in these days of uncertainty in the world, our communities, and ourselves.  “His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation…” (Luke 1:50)
 
Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me, like Mother Mary, ponder all your works and words with my heart, mind and soul, and treasure them. Have a Happy, Healthy and Holy New Year, 2022!
 
Sing to the Lord a new song; Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.  (Psalm 96:1)
 
 
To a world scarred by wounds, exclusions, judgments and violence,
God offers his Son,
Haven of peace, source of healing and path of reconciliation.
 
To a world that ignores its own history while struggling to imagine a future,
God offers his Son,
The eternal Word that entered time to reveal the eternal breadth of all our moments.
 
To this efficient and connected world which sill yearns for true encounter and faithful relationship,
God offers his Son,
The intimate friend who wants only our good.
 
May the children of this world have a beautiful child’s Christmas full of evergreens and snow, gifts and candy. But my deepest wish is that the adults of this world experience an adult Christmas: a time to recognize the depth of things, the fragile beauty of existence and the possibilities that the starry night of Bethlehem opens to us all.
Msgr Paul-André Durocher, Gatineau, Dec 2021.  Used by permission.  
 
Soli ad gloriam
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