Mary keeps the presence of God before her, reflecting in her heart about her Son, the savior of the world. (Lectionary #18)
December 31, 2024 - St. William Catholic Church - Foxboro, WI
Fr. Andrew Ricci - www.studyprayserve.com
Catholic Inspiration
Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
This is Father Andrew Ritchie, and you're listening to Catholic Inspiration, a podcast from my website at StudyPrayServe.com. These homilies, presentations, and retreats are part of my ministry as a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Superior, and now I invite you to open your hearts to some Catholic inspiration. I had a baptism today. Beautiful baby girl. A big chubby cheeks, precious as the day is long, and it was such a lovely, lovely baptism for me because as I've been now in the community long enough, I not only baptized this little girl today, I baptized her older sister. I had the funeral for the stillborn first child that they had. I did the wedding for this couple. I was there when they got engaged. I was there when they first met. To see this baby, this beautiful, precious baby in the arms of a mama, who definitely has mom tattooed on her forehead because she wants to be a mom more than anything and loves having her children, it was a precious moment, precious to see because of this history that I had with this family, this history to see the highs and the lows that they've already faced to see it as she's holding her child and just gazing at her kid. Now I ponder with that picture of this mother holding her baby and just taking in the moment and the history that led up to it. And then I think of Mary, Mary, a mom holding her son, but I see that on two levels. I see that in the beauty of Bethlehem, in that silent night, holy night, but then I also see Mary in the pieta holding the lifeless body of her son, taken down from the cross. Seen in both cases, these words of Luke's gospel come to heart and Mary kept all these things reflecting on them in her heart, that the highs and the lows, the beautiful blessings, the terrible sadness, she held on to all of it, she had a lot to ponder, a lot to reflect on. Mary is holding in her arms the Savior of the world, that Mary is cradling in her arms the lifeless body of the one who would give His life that we could go to heaven. Mary kept all these things reflecting on them in her heart, that as Mary could dwell upon those moments with Jesus. We tonight on this feast of the mother of God, pause to reflect on how God is at work in our own lives, to be able to pause for a moment and look back and say, "Lord, you were there at that moment. It might have been a beautiful moment. And Lord, you were there when all hell broke loose and the ground in front of me just fell out, but you were there." That in the highs and the lows, "Lord, now that I have some perspective, now that I can see it, I recognize that you were there in my life when I needed you. And you were there in my life when I didn't even recognize it, but only later understood that you were at work in my life, in my family, in my relationships, that Lord, you continue to be present in the world, but I need to keep all these things and reflect on them in my heart because I don't know about you folks, but life moves awfully fast. And if we don't stop and slow down and pause to reflect on what has happened in our lives, we can miss it because we just hop from one thing to the next. But tonight we can take a page out of Mary's notebook here and put it into practice. Tonight we can pause for a moment and maybe look back on the past year, maybe look back farther into our lives and say, "Lord, I recognize you were here." See the minute that we slow down and reflect on how God has been present in our life, a couple things should come out of it, first gratitude, gratitude for the gift of life, the gift of faith, the gift of knowing God at work within our lives, that gratitude, when gratitude wells up in our hearts, there we are on solid ground because then we can see the gift we were given at that moment. But folks, you realize that whatever we're reflecting on, the good or the bad, whatever struggles, whatever blessings, whatever highs or lows, the minute we reflect on that with gratitude, then we can say, "Lord, what are you teaching me? Lord, what are you teaching me now that I need to live? What are the lessons that you've given me so that now I can grow, grow as your son or daughter, grow in stature and grace, grow so that I can continue to be your disciple offering my life in the world? Lord, what are you teaching me so that in the new year, I can live it and share it in your name? That Lord, as I recognize where you have been in my life, as I reflect on your presence in my life with a grateful heart, I will now learn the lesson and offer my life that I might be that blessing. Share my life and allow your love to fill my heart and overflow. Simply put tonight, friends, I urge you all to keep all these things and reflect on them. Look back on the past year and see where God has been at work and with gratitude, with gratitude, apply whatever lessons we've learned and say, "Lord, help me in this new year to live for you. Lord, help me in this new year to be a blessing in your name. Lord, help me to take the gift of life and be a gift to others." Through the intercession of Mary, the mother of God, we put our faith into practice, holding on to all these things we've been given, reflecting on them in our heart. God bless you all. This is Father Andrew and I hope that this podcast inspires your faith. Now, if you found it helpful, please share it with a friend and you can help me by going to your podcast engine and leaving me a rating and a review. I remember all of my listeners in my daily prayers and I ask that you keep me in your prayers as well. God bless you, my friends. [BLANK_AUDIO]