“And Mary Kept All These Things” by Rev. Paul Berghout
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Piety
“The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace! So, shall
“The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Luke 2:16-19
Study
Flannery O’Connor noted that “All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful, “she wrote in 1958. (Adding, “Priests resist it as well as others.”)
She means that grace intervenes in the sufferings of the ordinary -- ignorant, complacent people whose pieties, prejudices, and illusions are burned away by a pitiless and savage grace.
God gives His grace to us at His good pleasure, in His own time and in His way, but our cooperation with God’s grace is needed.
For example, we hear in 1 Corinthians 10:13:
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
We cooperate with grace by keeping the commandments and repenting when we sin by using the means of grace, prayer, the holy sacraments, and penance.
Procrastination is one way we resist grace, even though some believe that they thrive under pressure. However, Joseph Ferrari, a psychology professor at DePaul University, and other researchers found that procrastinators make more errors in their work and take longer to finish tasks.
Fuschia Sirois, a psychology lecturer at the University of Sheffield, England, noted that procrastinators also experience higher stress levels, both from leaving things to the last minute and from their own negative and self-critical feelings about their procrastination.
Mary can help us not resist grace. Vatican II teaches that the motherhood of Mary is in the order of grace. Mary intercedes for us, showing us how to carry Jesus to term and give birth to him in the world.
If Mary is the mother of Jesus, and if Jesus is God, then Mary is the Mother of God. There is no way out of this logical syllogism.
The Rosary of Surrender, to help us work with grace, goes like this:
First Decade: Jesus, You take over.
Second Decade: Mother Mary, Guide me. (and repeat)
Today's Good News also shows how people like the shepherds discovered God's fulfilled Emmanuel Promise: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” God came to live in our neighborhood. God came looking for you and me. The Church is Jesus’ Mystical Body to unleash his transformative power so we can do works of mercy. It’s all about the love of God. If we love him and him in our neighbor, then we are cooperating with grace.
Janel Perez is a “street nurse” with the U.S. Department of Veterans Administration and her commitment is one way that we can bear out the call God has for us to cooperate with grace. She is a member of the Los Angeles V.A.’s Assertive Community Treatment Team. Nurse Perez spends her time seeking out the 6,000 Veterans who are sleeping on Los Angeles’s streets. These veterans require medical care, and more. She does not wear a nurse’s uniform and carries her medical supplies in a backpack.
Perez works with a multidisciplinary team. She says, “We find homeless Veterans in the community and offer them field-based services that include primary care, psychiatric care, and social services.
“We try to build a relationship with them. Our goal is to get [these veterans] to accept continued care from us gradually, as well as housing, but the trust-building process can be painfully slow. It can take two to three months before they even let you take their blood pressure,” she said. “They have to get to know you first. Life on the street is hard, and these Veterans are instinctively defensive. They don’t trust you right away. They have to protect themselves.”
Perez said that convincing a homeless Veteran to accept housing is a significant step. Once they agree to live in some housing, the team determines the best accommodation for them based on an evaluation of their healthcare needs.
Action
God blesses us at this New Year’s Day Mass for the coming year, as our First Reading today from the Book of Numbers, 6:24-26 says: The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD looks upon you kindly and give you peace!
Who needs “New Year’s Resolutions” when the prophet Jeremiah reminds us that God has his eye on us?
For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the LORD—plans for your welfare and not for woe, to give you a future of hope. When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me. (Jeremiah 11-14a)
James goes even further, asking us to qualify our plans, as the verse says, “You ought to say, “If it is the LORD’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Zig Ziglar used to say: “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” Imagine where you want to see yourself six months or one year from now, and how best to get to these places.
There is a saying for someone in alcohol recovery: “The longer I’m sober, the drunker I was.” This person may want to commit to an extra AA meeting in the new year.
St. Paul made travel plans. We can make plans, too, if the Lord wills it. Amen.
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