A story was told of a king who fell in love with a beautiful peasant who was among his subjects. He sent for her; and in the palace, expressed his love and offered her a life of bounty with him. But the beautiful peasant could not come to accept his gracious offer of love. She was trembling in fear and overtaken by the feeling of unworthiness in the face of the king’s majestic presence. The king was brokenhearted. But with the help of his wise counselor, he realized what to do: either to forget her as there were plenty of other women worthy of his love and stature or to forget being a king and live as a peasant to win her love. What did the king do? He stepped down from his throne, took off his crown, laid down his scepter and put on a peasant’s garment. He lived with the people in the village and once again met the beautiful peasant who eventually and happily accepted his love.
By becoming one of us, God offers his love to us in the only manner that we can truly appreciate: as a human being. So God’s indwelling in us is never an issue of worthiness or unworthiness on our part but rather a statement of God’s gracious will to stoop down to our lowly status on account of his self-emptying love.
Only with this realization that we accept with ease that a simple woman like Mary can truly be the Mother of God. God lovingly wills it. Hence, God lives with us and in us as he wills it. This great mystery of incarnation is the great mystery of God’s love for us. Mary has been both an instrument and a witness of this great mystery.
Today’s gospel (Lk 2:16-21) reveals Mary’s attitude to this mystery of God’s love. “Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart” (v. 19). Treasuring and reflecting. These are acts that we Christians should learn from Mary, the Mother God. Just as Mary treasured and reflected on the marvelous works of God in her life, we too are invited to examine God’s acts of love in our lives. We too ought to treasure in our hearts the beautiful things that God has caused in our lives. Reflecting is also necessary for us to discern what lies behind whatever transpires in our lives and see God’s invitation for us.
So as God deigns to dwell among us, He asks for an open heart on our part. Treasuring and reflecting are acts that show our openness to God’s indwelling. Treasuring and reflecting are just what we need to do as we end the year and begin anew. I would like to suggest four ways of doing this—these are four ways of looking and seeing God: Looking back and thanking God. Looking ahead and trusting in God. Looking around and serving God. Looking within and finding God.
Look back and thank God. One way to treasure God’s marvelous acts is to look back into the past year and see what God has done for us. It’s only in recognizing God’s grace that we can treasure it and find our hearts extolling in gratitude. A victim of typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro city sent me a text message to greet me a happy new year. It read: Even in the worst of times, there are still some things that we can be grateful for.
Look ahead and trust in God. This is an exercise of reflection and discernment. What are we called to do or to become as we go through this another year? Many express this as New Year’s resolution. The future may be filled with uncertainties but we are called to trust in God… because God is always faithful to his promise. We are invited to face what lies ahead with confidence--in latin, con means with; fides means assurance, a promise, word of honor. Hence, we welcome the new year with the assurance that everything will be fine because God cares.
Look around and serve God. This is about the present, our day to day attitude towards life and its challenges and the people we work with or work for. We are asked to see God in the people that surround us and through them serve God each day. In the light of natural calamities that befall us quite frequently now, we cannot deny the fact that to serve is an urgent call to take care of mother Earth. This calling is no longer an option. It is a moral responsibility.
Look within and find God. This is at heart of the mystery of God’s indwelling. God is with us. God dwells in us. People do pilgrimages to have deep spiritual experiences. The most basic pilgrimage I think is the journey within. We can do this simply by giving ourselves moments of silence each day. In that silence, we meet God who dwells within ourselves. We can lose everything helplessly in a flash flood but not God who stays with us no matter what happens.
God is a God who has decided to be with us and to invite us to experience his great love. Mary is our model in responding with an open heart to God’s love by treasuring and reflecting on the marvelous works of God in her life. This New Year let us then be confident of God’s unfailing presence in our life—in the past, in the future, in the present, and within ourselves. As we begin this year, let us ask the grace for a heart that treasures and reflects on the greatness of God’s love.
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