Vol. 37 No. 8                          (Cycle C)     MARY, MOTHER OF GOD   Mary kept all these things pondering in her heart   ENTRANCE ANTIPHON Hail, holy Mother! The child to whom you gave birth is the King of heaven and earth for ever. PENITENTIAL RITE The Church dedicates the New Year’s Day to Mary, the Mother of God, entrusting thus to her maternal care and protection the whole of the New Year. The liturgy of the Day invites us to follow the example of Mary in becoming docile instruments in the hands of the Lord. Like Mary let us recall the marvellous things God has done in our lives. Let us also cultivate a filial love towards Mother Mary and turn to her with trust in all our needs. Now, to celebrate this Eucharist worthily let us ask the Lord forgiveness for our failure in responding to the innumerable graces He showered upon us. I confess… Glory to God in the highest,/and peace to his people on earth./Lord God, heavenly King,/almighty God and Father,/we worship you,/we give you thanks,/we praise you for your glory./Lord Jesus Christ,/only Son of the Father,/Lord God, Lamb of God,/you take away the sin of the world:/have mercy on us;/you are seated at the right hand of the Father,/receive our prayer./For you alone are the Holy One,/you alone are the Lord,/you alone are the Most High,/Jesus Christ,/with the Holy Spirit,/in the glory of God the Father./Amen. OPENING PRAYER Let us pray: God our Father, may we always profit by the prayers of the Virgin Mother Mary, for you bring us life and salvation through Jesus Christ her Son who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. FIRST READING (God reveals to Moses His graciousness and benevolence towards the people of Israel.) A reading from the Book of Numbers (6:22-27) The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron and his sons, ‘Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The Lord bless you and keep you: The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.’ So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” This is the Word of the Lord PSALM (66) Response: O God, be gracious and bless us. God, be gracious and bless us and let your face shed its light upon us. So will your ways be known upon earth and all nations learn your saving help. R./ Let the nations be glad and exult, for you rule the world with justice. With fairness you rule the peoples, you guide the nations on earth. R./ Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. May God still give us his blessing, till the ends of the earth revere him. R./ SECOND READING (St Paul stresses the self-humiliation of the Son of God who deigned to be born of a mother like any human child. He also reminds Galatians to live in mature freedom because the Son has redeemed us.) A reading from the Letter of St Paul to the Galatians (4:4-7) When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying “Abba! Father!” So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir. This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION (Heb 1:1-2) Alleluia, alleluia! In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son. Alleluia! GOSPEL (St Luke mentions Mary’s part in the wonderful mystery of God’s love for human beings—the Incarnation—and invites us to live reflectively like Mary.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke (2:16-21) The shepherds went with haste to Bethlehem and they found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. This is the Gospel of the Lord I believe in God,/the Father Almighty,/ Creator of heaven and earth./I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./ He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into Heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the Holy Catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./Amen. PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL Cel: Beloved in Christ, God, in his loving plan of Salvation, chose Mary to be the Mother of the Saviour. As Mary is the model of perfect discipleship, through her intercession let us pray to the Father for all our needs, saying: Response: Father, through the intercession of Mary, hear our prayer. 1. For our Pope and all the pastors of the Church: that they may see the guiding hand of the loving God in all the events of their lives. R./ 2. For leaders of nations: that the Holy Spirit may help them to co-operate in the pursuit of peace and justice, that the New Year we begin today be a year of peace and prosperity for all people. R./ 3. For all believers in Christ: that they may never doubt God’s presence with them in all their trials, that they may give an example to the world for true love. R./ 4. For all mothers: that they may take Mary as their model in life, and understand that caring for one’s own children is the best way of bearing witness to Christ’s love. R./ 5. For all of us assembled here: Lord, grant us the humility not to hide our weaknesses, and the wisdom to learn from our mistakes and failures. R./ (Pray for local and personal needs) Cel: Almighty God, we thank and praise you for Mother Mary. As we begin our journey in the New Year, guide us through your Spirit that our words and deeds may always be pleasing to you and we grow in love for one another. We make this prayer… PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS God our Father, we celebrate at this season the beginning of our salvation. On this feast of Mary, the Mother of God, we ask that our salvation will be brought to its fulfilment. We ask this… PREFACE (P 56) Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks as we celebrate the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, she became the Mother of your only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is for ever the light of the world. Through Him the choirs of angels and all the powers of heaven praise and worship your glory. May our voices blend with theirs as we join in their unending hymn: All: Holy, holy, holy... COMMUNION ANTIPHON Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and for ever. PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Father, as we proclaim the Virgin Mary to be the mother of Christ and the mother of the Church, may our communion with her Son bring us to salvation. We ask this...   Liturgy and Life   On the first day of the New Year, while we are still savouring God’s gift of love to us in the little Babe of Bethlehem, the liturgy highlights Mary’s part in this wonderful mystery of God’s love. God’s gift of his Son to humankind had to be preceded by another great gift—the gift of a mother for all God’s children. All the graces with which God had filled her were obviously not for her sake but for ours. And our response to God too was given on our behalf. Mary, Mother of God, was His first gift to us humans so that through her He could give us also His Son. Mary’s Son is our Saviour. Jesus—the name given to the child on the day of his circumcision—means exactly that: Yahweh saves. Jesus has come to save us, liberate us, from what Paul calls the slavery of the law (2nd reading). The gist of Paul’s message is that God’s love is not reserved for those who first prove they deserve it by fulfilling God’s law. The idea that God would only love people who earned His love constituted “slavery” for Paul. Jesus came to liberate us from this slavery by making us his brothers and sisters, daughters and sons of his heavenly Father and ours. Sons and daughters do not have to earn their inheritance. It is theirs by right. It is good to be reminded of this as we begin a New Year. Our relationship with God does not rest on what we do for Him, but what He has already done for us, not as reward for services rendered, but simply out of love. It is fitting that the Church should dedicate the first day of the New Year to a woman who is known not for what she achieved, but for what she received. ‘Mary kept all these things, pondering in her heart’. The things she stored in her heart were not what she did for God, but what God had done for her: The first visit of the Angel with his overwhelming news; the beautiful and precious words of Elizabeth in greeting her; the visit of the shepherds recounting the angels’ message to them; and later, the arrival of those strange “wise men from the East” with their remarkable tale of following a star. None of these were Mary’s achievement. It was all God’s gift, His sheer gift. We need not then worry and fret about what we must do for God. Instead we need to be open as Mary was, to what God wants to do for us, in us, and through us for others. As we cross the threshold of the New Year, let us treasure in our memory as Mary did, all that God has done for us already—His unbelievable patience with us; His constant forgiveness of our sins; the preservation of our life from so many dangers… When we do that we shall become bearers of Christ in our world. —Fr Joseph Thenasseril, ssp     The Editor and the Staff of THE SUNDAY LITURGY Wish all our dear PATRONS and BENEFACTORS A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR! May God, through the intercession of Mary, guide you and your dear ones all through the New Year!