NEW YEAR DAY. WORLD DAY OF PEACE. Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Year C. By Tobe Eze

NEW YEAR DAY. WORLD DAY OF PEACE. Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

 Year C.

FIRST READING
Numbers 6:22—27

SECOND READING
Galatians 4:4—7

GOSPEL
Luke 2:16—21

THEME: LET US BE NEW BY LEAVING EVIL AND SEEKING PEACE WHICH MARY HAS GIVEN BIRTH TO PRINCE OF PEACE.

We have three great celebrations today and three of them are very significant in our lives. Today is the beginning of a New Year, today being a beginning of a New Year is the world day of peace and the Church is celebrating today Mary Mother of God. Three great feasts but related. Let us take them one after the other.

New Year: What is new in us about this New Year? At the beginning of every year, people make different resolutions. This and that is (are) my New Year resolution (s). To what end? How many weeks do we keep to those resolutions we make? Some do not exceed January, some February and mostly the highest will last till March and we will go back to our normal way of life. New Year does not change any person rather we are the ones to change ourselves. It is good to make resolutions and work towards achieving them for that is a way of planning life. These beautiful resolutions we make have to be renewed if we want to achieve them. Let us try and see if we can write them down and check them or read them each day before embarking on the day’s activities and again at night to check the effort made. How can we connect this to the second celebration? Continue Reading.............

The World Day of Peace: Looking at our world today, it seems like we are living in Thomas Hobbes' state of nature where might is power. Peace is seriously lacking in our world today. How do we gain it back? As we make resolutions in this new year, let us bear in mind the need of Peace and make resolutions that will bring peace. Make resolutions that you will help those in need, that you will not willingly cause trouble that will remove peace, that if you mistakenly offend anyone you will make amend immediately, that you will love unconditionally, that you will forgive always. Once we do all these, the peace we seek today will come to us and our world will change. How can it go further to be connected with the third celebration?

Mary Mother of God: Mary is mother of Jesus who is God, therefore she is mother of God. I don’t need to write a project to defend this for it is clear. Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ who is the prince of peace. If we follow the footsteps of Mary who pondered the words of God in her heart and used to promote peace and harmony, we are going to make it here and here after.

How do we approach the three celebrations? Jesus brought about a new era in the world and that era is an era of peace and light to gentiles and glory to Israel his people and Christ came through Mary. So, the connection here is that a new era of peace was brought through the child bearing of Virgin Mary Mother of God and that child is Jesus who brought peace to us who are near and us also who are far off (Ephesians 2:17). Let us in this light learn to bring new things into our lives, things that promote peace and seek the intercession of Mother of peace and all will be good for us in this year and we will have peace and Mother of God will continue to intercede for us. THANKS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.