World Peace Day<\/p>\n
January 1, 2021<\/p>\n
The Lord bless and protect you, light your face upon you, and grant you his favor.
\nThe Lord will show you his face and grant you peace.<\/p>\n
You are no longer a slave, but a son; and if you are a son, you are also heir by God’s will.<\/p>\n
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Readings<\/p>\n
First Reading<\/p>\n
Reading the Book of Numbers 6, 22-27<\/p>\n
The Lord spoke to Moses:
\n“Say to Aron and his children, this is the formula by which you will bless the children of Israel: ‘The Lord bless and protect you, light your face upon you, and grant you his favor.
\nThe Lord will show you his face and grant you peace.’
\nThus they will invoke my name upon the children of Israel and I will bless them.”<\/p>\n
Psalm<\/p>\n
Exit 66, 2-3. 5. 6 and 8<\/p>\n
R\/. May God have mercy and bless us.<\/p>\n
May God have mercy bless us, enlighten his face upon us;
\nknow the earth your ways, all peoples your salvation. R\/.<\/p>\n
May nations sing with joy, because you rule the world with justice
\nand you rule the nations of the earth. R\/.<\/p>\n
O God, may people praise you, may all people praise you.
\nMay God bless us; to be afraid of all the ends of the earth. R\/.<\/p>\n
Second Reading<\/p>\n
Reading St Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 4, 4-7<\/p>\n
Brothers:
\nWhen the fulness of time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to rescue those under the Law, that we may receive filial adoption.
\nBecause we are children, God sent to our hearts the Spirit of His Son who cries, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if you are a son, you are also heir by God’s will.<\/p>\n
Gospel<\/p>\n
Reading the Holy Gospel according to Luke 2, 16-21<\/p>\n
At that time, the shepherds ran to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw him, they told what they had been told about that child.
\nEveryone who heard it admired what the shepherds had told them. Mary, for her part, kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.
\nAnd the shepherds became giving glory and praise to God for all that they had heard and seen, according to what they had been told.
\nWhen the eight days were fulfilled to circumcis the child, they named him Jesus, as the angel had called him before his conception.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Comment<\/p>\n
Eight days ago we celebrated Christmas, the birth of Jesus, the Son of God and Mary. Within eight days of being born, in order to comply with Jewish law, the Child was circumcised and was named Jesus, meaning “God saves”. Even today the echoes of Christmas and its enormous meaning for the whole of humanity and for each of us as part of it resonate in our hearts. God, in person, has become one like us to save us, to heal us, to free us, to give us full life, to teach us to be and live as and for what He created us, to be His children, so that in Him we may find true happiness, true and full life.<\/p>\n
As St Paul reminds us, in the fullness of time, God sent his Son into the world born of woman and this woman was called Mary. Born under the law, that is, without privileges or deprivation of laws, like any of us. And all this to rescue us from sin and death, that we may come out of their bondage and become children of God and live as such. This is God’s great project of all mankind that our first parents broke with disobedience from sin, and which we too abandon every time we leave the House of the Father. To turn away from Christ is to turn away from God, to waste the enormous gift of living as children, because God wants us children, not slaves; God wants to make us partakers of his inheritance which is divine life, eternal life, full life. He does so through Jesus, the Messiah, the Lord, the Savior.<\/p>\n
The first to live this reality was Mary, the graceful one, who humbly and simply kept everything in her heart, even without understanding, waiting for God’s light. From the beginning the first disciples of Jesus, and then the first Christians, realized the importance of Mary, of her irreplaceable place in God’s project, to whom she said yes in everything from the first moment. So when the true divinity of Jesus was affirmed in the Church, Mary’s divine motherhood was also affirmed. Truly Mary, as the mother of Jesus, Son of God, can be called because she is, Mother of God. And so the Christians began to pray since the 5th century: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us…”. We too pray today, aware that, in the face of her Son Jesus, Mary recognizes each of her disciples, since He gave it to us as Mother in the figure of the Apostle John, before she died on the Cross.<\/p>\n
The love of children that as Christians we profess to Mary, our Lady, cannot be a mere devotion any more, not even the most important; mothers have no devotion, because a devotion can be dispensed with. Mothers are truly loved, and their love is essential. Our love for Mary, Mother of God and our mother, is one of the best ways to grow and live the love of God that Christ makes known to us. We can even say that for many his maternal love is a living expression of God’s also maternal love for anyone. That is why so many generations have called her blessed, so anywhere there is a hermitage dedicated to her under an always different advocation. All these names of Mary have an irreplaceable common root: Mother of God.<\/p>\n
With her hand, today we thank God for this new year that we are beginning. The life of each of us is a path to eternity that is divided into stages. A new year is a new stage and a new opportunity that the Life Owner gives us. Looking to the future with enthusiasm and hope, despite the pains and sufferings, should be our attitude today, as men and women of faith, who feel every day the blessing and protection of God the Father, his light that illuminates our walk in peace.<\/p>\n
Today we also celebrate in the Church and outside it the World Day for Peace proposed by Pope Paul VI 54 years ago. Pope Francis offered us last week the message for his celebration under the title “The culture of care as a path of peace”, in the context of the difficult situation that the whole humanity is experiencing scourgeed by the pandemic. It is worth reading in its entirety and meditating on the precious suggestions of the Holy Father who concludes this text by saying: “The culture of care, as a common, supportive and participatory commitment to protect and promote the dignity and good of all, as a willingness to care, attention, compassion, reconciliation and recovery, mutual respect and acceptance , is a privileged way to build peace.” “In many parts of the world, peace paths are needed that lead to wound healing, peace craftsmen are needed willing to generate healing and reunion processes with wit and audacity” (Fatelli tutti, 225). At this time, when the boat of humanity, shaken by the storm of the crisis, moves forward with difficulty in search of a calmer and more serene horizon, the rudder of the dignity of the human person and the “compass” of fundamental social principles can allow us to navigate with a safe and common course. As Christians, let us look at the Virgin Mary, Star of the Sea and Mother of Hope. Let us all work together to move towards a new horizon of love and peace, of fraternity and solidarity, of mutual support and welcome. Let us not give in to the temptation to disinterest ourselves in others, especially the weakest; let us not get used to looking away, but commit ourselves every day specifically to “form a community composed of brothers who welcome each other and care about each other”.<\/p>\n
True peace is a gift from God, but also a fruit of our work. Blessed are those who work for peace, Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mountain, for they will be called children of God.<\/p>\n
Prayer<\/p>\n
Holy Father, Creator of heaven and earth, Lord of history and all that exists, to you glory and praise forever.<\/p>\n
We thank you because one more year you grant us life. We thank you for this new period of our existence. We ask you to bless us and accompany us in the New Year we begin; do not leave us by your hand so that we may always serve you as children enlightened by faith and love. Save us from all evil, sin and death. We ask you to cease the pain and suffering that this pandemic is causing to all mankind, especially the poorest and most disadvantaged. We ask you to grant eternal rest, in peace with You, to all who left us forever in this past year. Help us to trust You and to live every moment and every event with the awareness that You know everything, that you are always attentive and nothing escapes your power.<\/p>\n
On this day we ask you again for peace, peace which is the fruit of justice and the work of all. We’re asking you because we really need it. The turmoil of a seemingly aimless world of disconcerting events causes us to lose our peace. Conflicts multiply in families, in peoples, between men and women of different races, languages, cultures and religions. Selfishness and violence continue. We need inner peace, family peace, social peace, peace in the world.<\/p>\n
Lord, who sent your Son into the world as Father and Prince of Peace, give us your peace.<\/p>\n
We ask you by the hand of Mary, the well-called Mother of God for being the mother of Jesus, to whom He himself gave us as the mother of all at the extreme moment of her offering of love on the Cross. With all the Christians of so many centuries in the history of the Church and as they say today we say to him:<\/p>\n
God save you, Mary; full you’re funny.<\/p>\n
The Lord is with you; Blessed art thou among all women.<\/p>\n
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.<\/p>\n
Holy Mary, Mother of God,<\/p>\n
pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"