Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

Many of us arrive carrying the weight of a new year, hopes, worries, regrets, and questions about what lies ahead. The Church does not ask us to begin this year with answers. Instead, she presents us with a mother and a child, in silence and simplicity.

Mary gives birth not in comfort, not in security, but in uncertainty. There is no evidence in the Gospel that things suddenly feel peaceful for her. Yet she trusts. She holds her Son, listens to the shepherds’ stories, and ponders all these things in her heart. Mary does not rush to explain God’s plan. She allows God to unfold it.

Many of us are living in situations we did not choose, such as family tensions, health struggles, financial stress, loneliness, or grief. Like Mary, we may not understand why things are as they are. Today’s Gospel reassures us that faith does not mean having clarity; it means staying present to God where we are.

The shepherds encounter Jesus and leave changed. Their joy spills outward. Mary’s faith moves inward. Both are holy. Some seasons of our lives call us to proclaim God’s goodness boldly. Other seasons ask us to remain faithful, to treasure what we cannot yet explain.

In the first reading, God blesses His people with peace. In the second, Paul reminds us that God fully entered into our human condition, born of a woman, subject to our limitations. This tells us something important: God is not distant from our struggles. He meets us in them.

As we honor Mary, the Holy Mother of God, we are invited to begin this year gently. To trust without rushing. To listen more than we speak. To believe that even now, especially now, God is at work in our lives. And like Mary, by our quiet faith, we may help others discover that God is already very near.