Reflection for Friday, January 1
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Today is a day of blessings and praise. “The Lord bless you and keep you.” “May God bless us in his mercy.” “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God.” On this day, we recall the day the holy child receives the name, Jesus (meaning to deliver or rescue), and becomes a child of the covenant by being circumcised, and in the process receiving several blessings. While not mentioned in the gospel, the eighth day is also the day that the mother of a boy goes to the mikvah, or ritual bath, to be purified after the birth of a son (14 days for a girl!). Today, it is a day that we rejoice in the motherhood of Mary, the one who said “yes” to God.
But what does all of this mean for us? Is it just a sweet and lovely (and only a tiny bit bloody) story of family and motherhood? Or does it offer us a challenge? I keep thinking back to Mary’s “yes” and the Magnificat: “All generations shall call me blessed.” If this can be true of Mary and of Jesus, it must be true of us as well. We are also a people made holy. And holiness implies a calling. So how are we called to say “yes”? What is our gift to the world? How is our little light to shine among the heavens?
A short time ago, we as a community were blessed with a most unusual for us, but stunningly beautiful, Advent and Christmas concert, that left me filled with hope. Why? Because a tiny virus had silenced the voices of our choirs. Singing together became one of the most dangerous things one could do. To say that this devastated our dear director of music would be a vast understatement. But he, together with our tech wizard and so many others, found new ways to share music with so many. He found his voice. He said “yes!”, and in so doing blessed us all, and we call him blessed. And I am filled with the hope that it is possible to find new ways to say my “yes.”
It may not always be easy or obvious, but we are each born into a specific family, in a specific time, with a specific gift that only we can give. What is mine to give, and how do I give it? When you give what is only yours to give, you too will be called blessed.
Pam Hardiman