We welcome all of you to Mass today as we celebrate the new year of 2025, as we commemorate the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, and as we celebrate the world day of peace.
This world day of peace was established in 1967 by Pope St Paul VI. Every year on January1, the Popes have taken the occasion to offer magisterial reflections for the day, dealing with topics such as the United Nations, human rights, diplomacy, and economic development. The theme chosen by the Pope Francis for the World Day of Peace for 2025 is “Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace”, corresponding to “the biblical and ecclesial understanding of the Jubilee Year” which we celebrate in 2025.
This theme is inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical letters Laudato sí and Fratelli tutti, and by the values of hope and forgiveness, which are at the heart of the Jubilee Year, a time for conversion that calls us not to condemn, but instead to work toward reconciliation and peace.
The Vatican’s official statement for this day of prayer states that “only from a genuine conversion on all levels – personal, local and international – will true peace be able to flourish.” Peace will come not only from an end to conflicts, but also in a new reality in which wounds are healed and each person’s dignity is recognized.
In our current liturgical year, many of our Gospel readings at our Sunday Masses will be from Luke. St Luke highlights the humility and the tenacity of Mary in his Gospel passages. When the angel Gabriel tells Mary of God's plan for her to be the mother of His son, she responds with her fiat: “Here is the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” When she visits her cousin Elizabeth, Mary proclaims how God raises up the poor while he brings down the mighty. Our Gospel today tell us that when the shepherds tell Mary the message the angels gave them regarding her son, she meditates on the meaning of this message in her heart. Mary is not only a disciple of action, but she is a disciple of prayer and faith. As we enter this Jubilee year, as we pray for God’s peace throughout the world, may we be like Mary as we live as people of action and prayer.
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