Homily: Jan 1 2017 - Mary, Mother of God - A good year or bad year?

So. Was 2016 a good year or a bad year? Well, that certainly depends on who you ask, doesn’t it? It was an election year, so we all suffered through an endless barrage of political commercials. Famous and beloved celebrities like David Bowie, Gene Wilder, Muhammed Ali, Florence Henderson, Carrie Fisher, and Debbie Reynolds, passed from this life. Tragedy struck many parts of our nation and world: over 600 people were killed and 1700 people injured in Mass shootings on American soil. In fact, 90,000 Christians died for the faith in 2016.

Tragedy aside, a lot of interesting things happened too. NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter, 483 million miles from earth. Pope Francis and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch met and signed an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting since the year 1054, nearly a thousand years ago. The first proven vaccine against the Ebola virus was found effective. And I think there was some basketball thing that happened here in Cleveland.

Two poignant events much nearer and dearer to our hearts: Our beloved Father Wendelken passed this year, and as you may have heard, Bishop Lennon the 10th bishop of the diocese of Cleveland retired this week. A temporary Apostolic Administrator was named by Pope Francis, Bishop Daniel Thomas, Bishop of Toledo will administer the diocese until a new bishop is named.

Was 2016 a good year or bad year? Well, what’s the criteria for such a judgment? The number of celebrities that passed away, technological breakthroughs, sportsball trophies?

A year, a day, a lifetime, should not be judged by the loss of celebrities or who won or lost various political elections. Rather, a year is judged by how well you treated others, whether or not you are holier at the end of 2016 than you were at its beginning.

How did you do? Did you develop and maintain new habits of prayer, service, and catechetical study? Have you properly repented for sins? Are you more patient, generous, joyful than you were a year ago?

If 2016 wasn’t as spiritually fruitful as it should have been, the turning of the year provides a wonderful opportunity to examine your life and to resolve to make the changes you need, the changes God is calling you to make. There is wisdom in making a New Year resolution, and I strongly urge you to consider a spiritual resolution.

Today we celebrate the great Feast of Mary, Mother of God. What resolutions, what changes do we need to make in our life? We but only have to compare ourselves to her. She is our model for what faithfulness and authentic humanity looks like: her prayer life, her openness to the will of God, her willingness to suffer for Him and to embrace the unknown, her charity toward family and neighbor. Look at her and listen to her. Like a good Jewish mother, she will tell you about the changes you need to make in your life. So, how will your 2017 be better than your 2016: if you become more like her. That’s it. It’s that simple.

We could spend the next year exploring what it means to become more like Mary. As St. Bernard said, there’s always more to say about Mary. There’s always more about her faith, her trust, her charity, her wisdom, to explore, to understand, and to emulate.

So let’s just examine one part of her faith today. What do we see Mary doing in the Gospel today? After the unique and profound experience of giving birth to the Savior of Humanity, after shepherds come to worship, and angels come to sing, we find “her keeping these things and reflecting on them in her heart.” She sat in silence and reflected.

How thoroughly unmodern of her! I call it unmodern because what is our modern tendency? To go from one thing to another without reflection: a new iphone app, a new Netflix show to binge watch, a new sale at Kohl’s, a new video game, a new flavor of frappacinno, a new fad, a new selfie. We are obsessed with novelty. And we go from thing to thing with so little reflection upon what matters most in life.

You want a New Year’s Resolution? 10 minutes before bed: turn off the tv, turn off the iphone, turn off your anxious thoughts about what will happen tomorrow, and reflect, like Mary, upon what God is doing in your life. Where is God calling you to grow? What is God wanting you to learn? What are the virtues God wishes to strengthen in you? What are the inspirations God wants you to follow? If you have a hard time beginning your reflection, read a line from the scriptures of the day, or a paragraph from one of the great spiritual masterpieces, like Thomas Kempis’ Imitation of Christ.
To live more reflectively in 2017 will help sanctify our year, it will help us remain centered on Christ, it will help us discover the presence of God in our life, that he is with us in good times and in bad, molding us and shaping us in this crucible of time, to become the people, his sons and daughters, as he made us to be.

Pope Francis, this morning from Rome, said: “Let us pause before the manger to contemplate how God has been present throughout this year and to remind ourselves that every age, every moment is the bearer of graces and blessings.”

May the Great Mother of God, Mary Most Holy, this year, this day, to become the people God made us to be, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.