Mary, Mother of God

Dec 31

Letter from the Pastor
Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
January 1, 2023

Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart. [Luke 2:19]

Today’s Gospel begins with the Shepherds recounting their story to Joseph and Mary after they found “the infant laying in the manger” and Mary held all that she heard in her heart. We can only imagine what was going in on her heart. The heart of a mother is like none other.

Today, we begin a new year and we hold many things in our hearts. I suspect that one of those is the hope for a good year to come. A hope for peace in our world. Perhaps there are some who hope for peace in their families, or even in their own hearts.

I’m not sure where I first heard this quote from the 17th Century Dutch philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, but he wrote, “Peace is not the absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition of benevolence, confidence, justice.”

We might not be able to control the war in Ukraine or in all the other places in our world but we do have some control over the “wars” in our culture and in our lives. If we could hold Spinoza’s idea of peace in our heart, then the ripples begin and it starts to effect those around us. Peace becomes real.

We are not totally helpless. Neither was Mary or Joseph. They were people of faith who believed that God would be true to God’s word and the trusted, and they changed the world, and it began in a little manger.

May the world soon know the peace of God’s kingdom, and may we help to make it so.

On behalf of the entire Parish Staff, may you have a blessed and peaceful New Year and may we all work to make the peace of Christ real in our midst.