9/4/2023 0 Comments Shepherds hasten to his throne![]() ![]() We have to roll up our sleeves to build peace. And it needs a positive outlook as well: may we always look - in the Church and in society - not at the evil that divides us, but the good that unites us! Getting depressed or complaining is useless. It is built by being attentive to the least, by promoting justice, with the courage of forgiveness which extinguishes the fire of hatred. ![]() But peace is also our commitment: it asks us to take the first step, it demands concrete actions. We can truly build peace only if we have it in our hearts, only if we receive it from the Prince of peace. ![]() Gift from on high: we need to implore it from Jesus because we are not capable of preserving it on our own. Peace “is both a gift from on high and the fruit of a shared commitment” ( Message for the 55th World Day of Peace, 1). Today we celebrate the World Day of Peace. If we become artisans of fraternity, we will be able to mend the threads of a world torn apart by war and violence. They are many! And while contemplating Mary who lays Jesus in the manger, making him available to everyone, let us remember that the world can change and everyone’s life can improve only if we make ourselves available to others, without expecting them to begin to do so. Looking at Mary with her Son in her arms, I think of young mothers and their children fleeing wars and famine, or waiting in refugee camps. Many are frightened about the future and burdened by social problems, personal problems, dangers stemming from the ecological crisis, injustices and by global economic imbalances. We are still living in uncertain and difficult times due to the pandemic. He is the God-child who is born so as not to exclude anyone, in order to make us all become brothers and sisters.Īnd so, the new year begins with God who, in the arms of his mother and lying in a manger, encourages us with tenderness. It is precisely when we experience our weakness and our frailness that we can feel God even nearer, because he appeared to us in this way - weak and frail. He is born little and in need so that no one would ever again be ashamed of themselves. He does not judge from his throne on high, but looks at us from below, like a brother, rather, like a son. He does not come with the power of one who wants to be feared, but with the frailness of someone who asks to be loved. And so throughout Jesus’ life.Īnd in laying him before our eyes, without saying a word, she gives us a wonderful message: God is near, within our reach. Always by giving her Son, showing her Son, never treating her Son as something of her own, no. This is Mary’s motherhood: she offers the Son who is born to all of us. She does not just hold him in her arms, but puts him down to invite us to look at him, to welcome him and to adore him. In that act of laying him down we can see a gift given to us: Our Lady does not just keep her Son to herself, but presents him to us. Let us pause on this scene and imagine Mary who, as a tender and caring mother, has just laid Jesus in the manger. The shepherds hasten toward the stable and what do they find? The text says they find, “Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger” ( Lk 2:16). The Gospel of today’s Liturgy speaks of her, taking us back once again to the wonder of the Nativity scene. Let us begin the new year entrusting it to Mary, the Mother of God. A Collection of Psalms and Hymns: from Watts, Doddridge, and others (4th ed.Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno! Happy New Year!.A Collection of Hymns for the use of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in America #885.A Collection of Hymns and Prayers, for Public and Private Worship #434.A Collection of Hymns and A Liturgy: for the use of Evangelical Lutheran Churches to which are added prayers for families and individuals #440.A Collection of Hymns and a Liturgy: for the use of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, to which are added prayers for families and individuals (New and Enl.A Collection of Hymns and a Liturgy for the Use of Evangelical Lutheran Churches: to which are added prayers for families and individuals #440.A Choice Selection of Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of Christians #184.A Choice Selection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of the Baptist Church and all lovers of song #374. ![]()
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