"I'm a little divided..."

Oh, wow! It's Friday once again. I've been learning the hard way the past few weeks that there is nothing magic about the start of a new year. Time, while perhaps not totally so, is a fairly arbitrary marker. On the good side, in a very real sense, every day is New Year's Day. This time next year it will be 15 January 2022. You can make a resolution today!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll take all the new beginnings I can get. Since the new year, it has become clear to me that I need a bit of a course correction. I don't need a 180° correction, or even a 90° turn. I think need something in the 45° range, which is still a pretty significant vector change.

At root, I just want and need to be happier. Understandably, last year things were very serious with the pandemic and everything else going on. I am glad I dealt with many of those issues directly, even if my doing so sat the wrong way with some people. Looking back, I am not full of regrets.

This is not to say that, like virtually everyone else, I can always find better ways to say/write what I am thinking and feeling. But I don't have any regrets. It's been observed that if you don't have enemies it's probably because you haven't stood for anything. As a Christian, it's important to love those who set themselves against you, to pray for them, to do good to them. This, of course, is far easier to write than to do.

My need to stop undercutting my own happiness (i.e., a choice to focus on negative things) became apparent to me well before the end of the last year. To remedy this, I obtained a copy of Max Lucado's book How Happiness Happens: Finding Lasting Joy in a World of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations. As I write this, I have only one chapter left before I finish it. It was a good investment.

When I finish How Happiness Happens, I plan to read Brother David Steindhl-Rast's Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer : An Approach to Life in Fullness. I've concluded that at present there are plenty of critics. I am grateful for those who have the gift of doing this directly and charitably. But, at least for now, I feel the need to fly a slightly different course.

Last weekend I had the chance to spend some time listening to music. It's been awhile. I listened to Foo Fighters sing "Times Like These" live on SNL last November. It was a great show with Dave Chappelle as guest host. Dave's monologue was superb, watch it. It's the kind of thing we need to hear. Dave deals with the complexity and humanity of our current moment while making us laugh, especially at ourselves, which is invaluable. If you want to cut to the chase, go to 14:23 and watch until the end.

Peace and blessings. Hang in there. God is good. Because God is good, there is hope. Easter is always happening.

Year B Baptism of the Lord

Readings: Isa 42:1-4.6-7; Ps 29:1-4.9-10; Acts 10:34-38; Mark 1:7-11

Today we mark the end of the Christmas season. This is unique to the United States. For most Catholics throughout the world, Christmas ended last Wednesday, 6 January, the traditional observance of Epiphany. Roman Catholics in the U.S. observe Epiphany on the second Sunday after Christmas. But rather than shorten the season, Christmas in our country extends until today’s feast.

An “epiphany” is a sudden revelation. On Epiphany, we celebrate the revelation of Jesus’s Lordship to the nations, that is, to the Gentiles. Not being Jewish, the magi represent the nations. Our reading from Acts connects today’s feast with Epiphany. What we heard proclaimed is a section from Acts 10 known as “the Pentecost of the Gentiles.”

The descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the apostles, as described in the second chapter of Acts, occurred on Pentecost. Pentecost is a major Jewish feast. In the Second Temple period- the period during which Jesus lived, along with Pesach (Passover) and Sukkot (the Festival of Booths), Pentecost (in Hebrew Shavuot) was one of the major pilgrimage festivals.

During the Three Pilgrimage Festivals, Jews came from all over the known world to Jerusalem to celebrate. Pentecost means “Fifty Days.” Shavuot is also called “Pentecost” because it occurs fifty days after Passover. During this festival, Jews celebrate God’s giving the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Christians call our celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit, which we revere as the birth of the Church, “Pentecost” because we observe it fifty days after Easter, our Passover.

In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus’s frightened followers as “tongues of fire while they were in hiding during this festival for fear of their lives.¹ Their response was to be so emboldened as to leave their hiding place and start proclaiming the Good News that is Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, ascended, and now present in this new and powerful way.

Jews from many nations, who spoke many different languages, were able to understand what these Spirit-filled Christians preached in their own language.² The Holy Spirit is how the risen Lord remains present among us, in us, and through us. Being present to us through the Holy Spirit is more a powerful and intimate presence than if Jesus had not ascended. One way Christ is really present in the Eucharist is in the gathering of the baptized.

In response to Peter’s preaching, the inspired author relays that all “who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day.”³ And so, from the Church’s beginning, the way a person becomes a Christian is by being baptized.

The scene of our second reading is the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion. Along with members of his household, Cornelius had come to faith in Christ. Peter went there to catechize these Gentiles. Our reading is Peter’s teaching the group, a primitive version of RCIA. It bears more than a passing resemblance to his preaching at the Pentecost in Jerusalem.

Where Peter’s preaching in this passage differs from what he said in Jerusalem is the recognition that they are Gentiles: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”⁴ In his message, Peter alludes to John’s baptismal ministry in the River Jordan and Christ’s anointing with the Holy Spirit.⁵

If we follow the story a little farther, in response to Peter’s preaching, the Holy Spirit “fell upon” Cornelius and his household.⁶ As a result, they were baptized. Hence, this is the Pentecost of the Gentiles, the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, expanding God’s one covenant with humanity to all people everywhere.

What is God’s covenant? It is captured well by the prophet Jeremiah, to whom God said: “Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people.”⁷ What does God say? In today’s Gospel, he says to and about Jesus: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”⁸

Later in Mark’s Gospel, at the Transfiguration when Jesus appears with Moses and Elijah, indicating that he is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, God says, again, “This is my beloved Son” before telling the awe-struck disciples, “Listen to him.”⁹

What does Jesus say that we should listen to? Quoting the Law, he says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength’” and “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”¹⁰

As Paul forcefully reminded the Christians of ancient Galatia, it is baptism, not circumcision, that is the mark of God’s new and everlasting covenant. Unlike circumcision, everyone can be baptized, which is why the apostle insists:

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus¹¹

Christianity is universal or it is nothing.

Apart from your birth, your baptism is the most important thing that has ever happened to you. It is wonderful that our Catechumens, who are preparing for baptism at Easter are with us this morning. It bears reminding ourselves that baptism, not holy orders, or any other sacrament, is the fundamental sacrament of Christian life.

Through the waters of baptism, you are reborn as God’s child. In baptism, you die, are buried and rise with Christ to new life. This means eternal life is not the life that begins after mortal death but starts now.

Just as Jesus’s identity as God’s only begotten Son was confirmed by the Spirit descending like a dove and the voice of the Father calling him his “beloved Son,” your identity as God’s beloved son/daughter is confirmed when you receive the sacrament of confirmation.¹²

After being baptized by John and spending forty days and nights in the desert fasting, praying, and being tempted by the devil, Jesus began his proclamation of God’s Kingdom: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”¹³ When translated literally from Greek, Jesus's exhortation is “Be repenting and be believing,” it is continuous. For Christians, now is always the time of fulfillment. One of the statements made on Ash Wednesday as you receive ashes is “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”¹⁴

In light of our collective loss with Father Rene's passing, it is important to note that the Mass of Christian Burial begins with the rite of reception of the body. As the casket is brought into the church, a white pall is placed over it. The pall is a baptismal garment. Between this ritual act and the sprinkling with holy water, these words are said: “In the waters of baptism [our brother/sister] died with Christ and rose with him to new life. May he/she now share with him eternal glory.”¹⁵

As God’s beloved child, eternal glory with Christ is your destiny. Live in light of your destiny: “Be repenting and be believing.”

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1 Acts 2:3.^↩
2 Acts 2:5-6.^↩
3 Acts 2:41.^↩
4 Acts 10:34-35.^↩
5 Acts 10:37-38.^↩
6 Acts 10:44.^↩
7 Jeremiah 7:23.^↩
8 Mark 1:11.^↩
9 Mark 9:7.^↩
10 Mark 12:30-31; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18.^↩
11 Galatians 3:27-28.^↩
12 Mark 1:11.^↩
13 Mark 1:15.^↩
14 Roman Missal, Ash Wednesday, Blessing and Distribution of Ashes.^↩
15 Order of Christian Funerals, The Funeral Mass, Introductory Rites, sec. 160.^↩

On being yeast

I think I can safely say that the first week of 2021, at least for those of us in the United States, has been tumultuous. Don't worry, this post is not a dissection of the events of this past week. I will just say that my hope is this past week put into bold relief the need citizen of the United States have to come together. This does not require everyone to agree on everything.

Healthy democracies require disagreement, debate, and, yes, compromise. It does require us to agree on some fundamental things. I hope more than a slight majority of my fellow citizens now grasp this. I also hope that we now collectively see why keeping political discourse civil is so important.

Because I posted the first Friday traditio of this still-new year on New Year's Day, this is the second of 2021. A thought occurred to me this week that what precedes the so-called Kenotic Hymn in the second chapter of Saint Paul's Letter to Philippians is important and often neglected. The hymn, which begins in verse with verse 6- "Who though he was in the form of God..."- is precisely that, a hymn. This means it was sung by early Christians and subsequently used by the apostle to highlight an important point he was trying to make. The first five verses provide the context for the hymn, give you the reason why Paul used it.

What is that point? The answer to this question lies in the first five verses of this chapter:

If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others. Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus...

The heart of this passage seems to be the exhortation to "humbly regard others as more important than yourselves." Doing this is how you imitate Jesus, who, even though he was God, did not lord his divinity over the world but rather served the world like a slave, not a master. Yes, it is very difficult because, at a very deep level, we are programmed, to use a technological metaphor, to act out of selfishness, putting our own interests first.

To be clear, this is a Christian thing, not a secular thing. Paul addressed his letter to the Church in ancient Philippi, not to everyone. This is one more lesson, too, that the Church is not to seek worldly power and dominion. What many Christians in the U.S. today mistake as persecution is merely the loss of political power, of cultural hegemony, of having sway and having it their way. In reality, these losses should be celebrated, not lamented. The lowest ebbs in Church history have been when the Church has sought and attained political power.

You see, Christianity, like Kierkegaard noted in virtually all his works, is not only something that should not be imposed, Christianity that is Christianity cannot be imposed. Christendom is a perversion of Christianity. Rather than lament, Christians should see our present circumstances as an opportunity to follow Jesus more faithfully, which means putting ourselves at the service of others. As Pope Francis often notes, too often the Church has become self-serving, too worried about preserving itself, its institutions, and, therefore, not focused on serving others, especially those most in need. This is the only way to regain the Church's lost credibility.

This is not to say that Christians should hole up, separate ourselves, refuse to participate in the political and cultural aspects of the societies in which we live, including running for and holding elected offices. Far from it! It is about how we participate and how we serve the common good, not whether or not we ought to do so. We are to do so but in a way consistent with the teachings of Christ, who said: “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed [in] with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened” (Luke 13:20-21). While I fully embrace preaching the Gospel and making disciples of all nations, I sometimes think the Church does better where Christians are in the minority.

It was kind of difficult coming up with the song for our traditio today but Lauren Daigle's acoustic cover of Matt Maher's "Lord, I Need You" strikes me as a good one:

Not being afraid because God is with us

He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, saith the Lord.¹ These are the words of Christ; and they teach us how far we must imitate His life and character, if we seek true illumination, and deliverance from all blindness of heart. Let it be our most earnest study, therefore, to dwell upon the life of Jesus Christ.

His teaching surpasseth all teaching of holy men, and such as have His Spirit find therein the hidden manna.² But there are many who, though they frequently hear the Gospel, yet feel but little longing after it, because they have not the mind of Christ. He, therefore, that will fully and with true wisdom understand the words of Christ, let him strive to conform his whole life to that mind of Christ.

What doth it profit thee to enter into deep discussion concerning the Holy Trinity, if thou lack humility, and be thus displeasing to the Trinity? For verily it is not deep words that make a man holy and upright; it is a good life which maketh a man dear to God. I had rather feel contrition than be skilful in the definition thereof. If thou knewest the whole Bible, and the sayings of all the philosophers, what should all this profit thee without the love and grace of God? Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, save to love God, and Him only to serve. That is the highest wisdom, to cast the world behind us, and to reach forward to the heavenly kingdom.

It is vanity then to seek after, and to trust in, the riches that shall perish. It is vanity, too, to covet honours, and to lift up ourselves on high. It is vanity to follow the desires of the flesh and be led by them, for this shall bring misery at the last. It is vanity to desire a long life, and to have little care for a good life. It is vanity to take thought only for the life which now is, and not to look forward to the things which shall be hereafter. It is vanity to love that which quickly passeth away, and not to hasten where eternal joy abideth.

Jesus Walks on the Water, by Ivan Aivazovsky, 1888

Be ofttimes mindful of the saying, The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing.³ Strive, therefore, to turn away thy heart from the love of the things that are seen, and to set it upon the things that are not seen. For they who follow after their own fleshly lusts, defile the conscience, and destroy the grace of God.
Thomas á Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (Book I, chap 1)

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1 John 8:12.^↩
2 Revelation 2:17.^↩
3 Ecclesiastes 1:8.^↩

__________________________________________________________

Three years ago I was up late because it was my last night off for the holidays. The thought of returning to my regular routine on 4 January 2018 had me feeling anxious. I can't even remember how I ran across a website that featured Thomas á Kempis's classic spiritual text The Imitation of Christ. Therefore, I can remember why I cited the passage I did on that snowy night three years ago.

Especially in light of the year just past, like a lot of people, I suppose, tonight I feel anxious about what lies ahead as 2021 begins in earnest tomorrow morning. It was this feeling of anxiety that caused me to remember the snowy late night Wednesday, 3 January 2018. I don't mind admitting that "I have not [yet] the mind of Christ. Each year my New Year's resolutions boil down to striving to conform my whole "to that mind of Christ."

And so, this Sunday night, I pray for the humility necessary to fully understand with true wisdom Christ's words. I begin with the words he spoke to his frightened disciples who were in a boat as Jesus walked across the water: "Do not be afraid" (see Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-52; John 6:16-21).

Peace to all who read this as you embark on the first full week of the new year. Remember, at Christmas we celebrate Emmanuel, God-with-us. Remembering that God is with us is how you keep Christmas alive all year.

Epiphany: the journey of wisdom

For Roman Catholics in the United States, today is Epiphany. Traditionally, and even now among most Western Christians who follow the liturgical calendar, Epiphany is on 6 January- the Twelfth Day of Christmas. "Twelfth Night" celebrations still happen among Christians in other countries. But for Roman Catholics in the U.S., Epiphany falls on the second Sunday after Christmas. We observe the Feast of the Holy Family on the Sunday immediately following Christmas Day.

Rather than the liturgical season of Christmas ending earlier for Catholics in the U.S., it ends later. For us, the Christmas season extends to the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which this year is next Sunday, 10 January.

In English, the traditional translation of magi is "wise men" (magus=wise man). This is the source of bumper stickers and the like that insist "Wise men follow him still." A wise person, of course, is one who possesses wisdom.

First thing this morning, I read R.S. Thomas's short poem about the Epiphany, "The first king."

The first king was on horseback.
The second a pillion rider. [a "pillion" is a motorbike]
The third came by plane.

Where was the god-child?
He was in the manger
with the beasts, all looking

the other way where the fourth
was a slow dawning because
wisdom must come on foot
(from Carys Walsh Frequencies of God: Walking Through Advent with R.S. Thomas, 165)

Wisdom is not just a journey. It is a slow journey, a pilgrimage. After all, what sense would it make to travel the Camino de Santiago on horseback, by motorcycle, or helicopter?

In this context, "Wisdom" is a translation of the Greek word Sophia, who is the subject of the Book of Wisdom. Despite being in the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Wisdom was originally composed in Greek, not Hebrew. Sophia can be said to be something like the twin of Logos. The recently deceased John P. Mackey, in his one-volume systematic theology Christianity and Creation: The Essence of the Christian Faith and Its Future Among the Religions, wrote wonderfully about Wisdom/Sophia. Sophia. Mackey asserted that Sophia "refers to a learning of the truth by walking a way, by living a life" (43).

Because Wisdom is infinite and we are finite (all too finite), it is not a fixed destination. It is not a journey to Wisdom but a journey of Wisdom. In his classic novella The Other Wiseman, Henry Van Dyke describes this journey very well.

In Van Dyke's story, Artaban (the fourth wise man) sets out to pay homage to the royal infant. He brings exquisite jewels, including "the pearl of great price," to present to the King. En route he is repeatedly waylaid by people who need his help. Like the Good Samaritan, by helping those in need whom he encounters he incurs costs. So many costs, in fact, that eventually he even gives up "the pearl of great price." He does not encounter the King until arrives in Jerusalem in time for this King's crucifixion. Artaban dies after a lifetime of following the way of wisdom, even if he does so more or less does do unknowingly, all while having horizon always extend before him.

As Carys Walsh describes it, Artaban's "is a slow journey, of a slow wise man, who never reaches his 'goal' but is forever caught up in the gradual shaping of faith and following" (Frequencies of God, 167). For Artaban it is as Thomas describes it- "a slow dawning/because wisdom must come on foot."

"Simply I learned about Wisdom, and ungrudgingly do I share - her riches I do not hide away; for to people she is an unfailing treasure; those who gain this treasure win the friendship of God, to whom the gifts they have from discipline commend them" (Wisdom 7:13-14- more or less my own translation). This passage from the Book of Wisdom seems relevant to Van Dyke's story about Artaban, the wisest of the wise men.

As to the gifts wrought by discipline, let us not forget that the spiritual disciplines, particularly the fundamental ones taught us by the Lord himself- prayer, fasting, and alms-giving, are but means to the end of loving God fully by loving your neighbor as you love yourself. As the story of Artaban and the Parable of Good Samaritan both demonstrate, your neighbor is the person whom you encounter who needs your help. Hence, Wisdom lies in making yourself a neighbor, a companion on the way, to avoid mixing metaphors.

In terms of our own journeys as Christians, given that whatever wisdom we might possess at any given time is broken and incomplete, perhaps part of the difficulty we have evangelizing is we offer answers that are too certain and/or facile. Our answers are often abstract and delicate, easily crushed by the weight of experience. Perhaps evangelizing consists of telling those who express interest in it about your own journey and inviting them along. Wisdom, then, is not one big epiphany but consists of many epiphanies, some may negate previous ones. Only those who wander are not lost. Truth is a journey because truth is an experience.

"I will begin again..."

Well, today is the first Friday of 2021. Why wait until next week for the first traditio of 2021?

I've been thinking a lot about how arbitrary time is. Across the world, there are many different calendars used by people belonging to different cultures. I was even thinking about the Catholic liturgical calendar, which offsets the calendar year by about a month. But there's Lent, which is a time t begin again, etc. Even going to confession marks a new beginning.

I don't know about you, but I'll take all the fresh starts I can get! If there's one thing Christians believe in, it's new beginnings.

With New Year's Day falling on a Friday, it is nice to be able to post U2's song "New Year's Day" as the first traditio of the year. It's hard to believe that the album on which "New Year's Day" is the third track, War, was released nearly thirty-eight years ago in 1983. The song is personal, musical, and political at its origins. The political bit was inspired by the Polish Solidarity movement.

Indeed, not much has changed this New Year's Day from the day, or even the year, before. We're still amid the pandemic. We're facing what will likely be a disastrous January in terms of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Beyond that, many people who are taking the pandemic seriously and isolating. This makes the long expressed in the song very relevant. It also has a leitmotif of anti-racism.

It's also fun to post videos from the early-to-mid eighties when music videos were something of a serious art form. While we Gen Xers don't discuss it much, we used to watch MTV, which was almost all these kinds of music videos.

Once again, Happy New Year. I will restate what I urged in my post from last year when the clouds of the pandemic were rolling in from the horizon: "Don't panic. Be prudent and pray."

Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God

Readings: Num 6:22-27; Ps 67:2-3.5-6.8; Gal 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21

When praying and thinking about what I might preach on this Solemnity that marks the beginning of the New Year, the thought crossed my mind to simply say, “Happy New Year! As Saint Teresa of Kolkata once said to a fellow Christian who questioned her devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary: ‘No Mary, no Jesus.’ This can also be stated Know Mary (k-n-o-w), know Jesus. Pray the Rosary!” One friend responded to this with “Good enough!” Well, I am not going to let you off the hook that easily.

Because Jesus is the Prince of Peace, Mary is the Queen of Peace. In addition to being the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, since Pope Saint Paul VI celebrated the first one fifty-four years ago in 1967, New Year’s Day has also been, at least for Catholics, the World Day of Peace.

I am always struck by the opening verses of the Beatles song “Let It Be” -

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be¹

As the opening words of the well-known hymn has it: “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” Of necessity, peace starts as an interior movement, one that is born in stillness and silence. Peace of mind is the fruit of contemplating the mystery of God-made-man-for us, as the heart of the Mother of God reflecting on the event of Incarnation of God’s Only Begotten Son shows us in today’s Gospel.² As Saint Paul notes in our reading from his Letter to the Galatians, it is because Jesus is Son of God and Son of Mary that he is our brother, this is what enables us to call God, “Abba, Father.”³

This cosmic event was no doubt awe-inspiring, even for her through whom God became man. It was by the Virgin Mary that Jesus was made consubstantial with us. It was on the cross that Jesus gave Mary as a mother to all who follow him, when he said to the beloved disciple: “Behold your mother.”⁴

The most accessible means we have at our disposal for contemplating the mystery of God-made-man-for-us is the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As you pray it, you contemplate the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries. I urge you to pray the Rosary every day, three hundred and sixty-five times between today on New Year’s Day 2022.

Our Lady, Mother of Providence, by Stephen Whatley, 2013

By “Pray the Rosary daily,” I mean one full set of mysteries each day. You can pray the Rosary while sitting quietly or you can pray it while walking, which, I don't mind telling you, is my preferred method. You can pray it while waiting at the dentist’s or doctor’s office, or while having your oil changed. You can even pray it while driving, but only if your vehicle has an automatic transmission.

As the late English Dominican Fr. Vincent McNabb urged in a homily for Rosary Sunday way back in 1936:

The Incarnation is the centre of all our spiritual life. One of the means by which it is made so is the Holy Rosary. There is hardly any way of arriving at some realisation of this great mystery equal to that of saying the Rosary. Nothing will impress it so much on your mind as going apart to dwell in thought, a little space each day, in Bethlehem, on Golgotha, on the Mount of the Ascension⁵

Today I urge you to make praying the Rosary daily a New Year’s Resolution. As you take the time to pray the Rosary each day, bring your prayer intentions before your Mother. Pray for peace, peace in your heart, in your home, in your place of work, in our parish, our diocese, the Church, in our community, state, country, and pray for the peace announced to the shepherds by the angels on the night of our Lord’s birth to prevail throughout the world.

Our Blessed Mother will hear and intercede for you. She will help you, strengthen you, comfort and console you. Sometimes, being the good Mother she is, she will challenge you to follow her Son more closely. She will urge you to have the faith to step out of the safety of the boat.

At the beginning of this New Year, Our Lady says to you what she said to the humble peasant Juan Diego centuries ago: ¿No estoy yo aqui, que soy tu madre? "Am I not here, I who am your mother?"

My friends in Christ, Happy New Year! Know Mary, know Jesus. Pray the Rosary!

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1 The Beatles, “Let It Be,” written and sung by Paul McCartney.^↩
2 Luke 2:19.^↩
3 Galatians 4:6.^↩
4 John 19:27.^↩
5 Michael Hennessy, “Fr. Vincent McNabb: A Voice of Contradiction,” Seattle Catholic, 29 April 2005.^↩