Coffee With God

Reflection: A year of companionship, community, and mutual blessings

Happy New Year 2022 ! Today’s Feast of Mary, the Mother of God is a very appropriate way to begin a new year. It is also the world day of Peace. This celebration reminds us that the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, is also our Mother. In 1970, Pope Paul VI instituted the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The Church assigns this solemnity on the first day of the New Year to emphasize the importance of Mary’s role in the life of Christ and of the Church. We venerate various saints on different days of the year, but Mary is the most prominent of all the saints. She has a special role and mission given to her by God. She is a powerful intercessor for all of our needs here on earth. In celebrating her special feast day, we call on her maternal accompaniment in our daily life; and like Mary, we cooperate with the plan of God for our lives. Today’s Word of God brings us a beautiful prayer, which could be made our personal wish and prayer for our dear ones. In the First Reading we listen to this Prayer: God bless you and keep you, God smile on you and gift you, God look on you full in the face, and make you prosper. Just three Verses… “The LORD bless you and keep you!” These are the first words we hear on this first day of the year and I think there is no greater blessings. The New Year Blessing presents the care and concern, our God has for his people. We see a God who rejoices in the wellbeing of his/her children, and blessing them unceasingly. This is also called the ‘priestly blessing’. We shall walk this year holding the hands of this loving and caring God and also of Mary, his mother and our Mother. We shall also hold hands with one another as one family of God, blessing one another. It is good to begin our journey in this new year with soulful companions. As Christians we are called to be a community of pilgrims, to walk in community and companionship; and never to walk our spiritual journey alone. The company of a spirit-filled community—the likes of the Holy Family and the shepherds in today’s gospel—is the way to go as we begin our spiritual journey this year. And, as members of the pilgrim Church, it is good to reach out and bless one another with the kind of blessing God taught Moses and Aaron. Let us take a moment today to reflect on how we can make 2022 a year of companionship, community, and mutual blessings.