Every year on January 1, the Pope issues a message for the World Day of Peace, which is sent to foreign ministers in countries throughout the world and which the Pope proclaims to the people of the world on New Year's day. This practice was instituted by Pope Paul VI in 1968 at the height of the Cold War. This year’s peace message is entitled: “Dialogue between generations, education, and work: tools for building lasting peace.” In the text of this message, Pope Francis outlined three “paths for building a lasting peace”: promoting dialogue between generations, investing in education, and improving labor conditions. In the first point, the Pope calls for a new alliance between the young generation and the older generations to address the problems of isolation and self-absorption that have been heightened by the pandemic these past two years. The Pope writes: “Although technological and economic development has tended to create a divide between generations, our current crises show the urgent need for an intergenerational partnership.” He goes on to say “Young people need the wisdom and experience of the elderly, while those who are older need the support, affection, creativity, and dynamism of the young.” He called for a greater investment in education must be accompanied by the promotion of a “culture of care,” which could become “a common language working to break down barriers and build bridges.” The Pope sees support for education as helping our youth take their rightful place in the labor market, he wrote, and build “a more habitable and beautiful world” through their work.
Just as it is appropriate that we pray for peace in the world at the beginning of the new year, we Catholics always celebrate the new year with our Mother Mary, honoring her as the Holy Mother of God. This title and honor of Mary as the Theotokos, or ‘God-bearer’ in Greek, was already an ancient title by the time of the first Ecumenical Council of the Church at Nicaea in the year 325 AD, reflecting the belief of early Christians in the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Our Lord and Saviour. The Church through the Apostles and their successors, guided by the truth and wisdom shown by the Holy Spirit, had preserved this truth carefully against all the false ideas and heresies that denied the divinity of the Lord and the divine motherhood of Mary. Declaring Mary the Mother of God was important because, at that time, there were some who refused to believe in the divinity of Christ, that he was the true son of God. Some believed that the Son was a created being, less than equal than the Father.
It is significant that this celebration is held on the eighth or octave Day of Christmas, the very last day of the Christmas Octave, as the culmination of the peak of our celebrations of Christmas that will still nonetheless continue through the Baptism of the Lord on January 9 this year. The celebration of the Mary, Mother of God affirms the significance of our savior’s birth into this world. This is affirmed in the Gospel we hear today from Luke, part of the Gospel we heard on Christmas Eve, of the shepherd visiting the Holy Family and honoring the Christ child. Through Mary, Jesus assumed our human nature. He became man so that his could save us through his sacrifice on the Cross.
We honor Mary this day in memory of her faith and obedience to God’s will, just as we honor her as the Mother of God. Our love and devotion for our Lord and Savior is reflected in our love and devotion for his mother. As we honor Mary today, may we follow the example of faith that she has shown us, both in how she lived and in how she dedicated her life to the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment