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Escritura:
Números 6, 22-27; Gálatas 4, 4-7; Lucas 2, 16-21 |
EVANGELIO
En aquel tiempo, los pastores fueron corriendo y
encontraron a
 María
y a José y al niño acostado en el pesebre. Al verlo, les contaron lo que
les habían dicho de aquel niño. Todos los que lo oían se admiraban de lo
que decían los pastores. Y María conservaba todas estas cosas,
meditándolas en su corazón.
Los pastores se volvieron dando gloria y
alabanza a Dios por lo que habían visto y oído; todo como les habían
dicho.
Al cumplirse los ocho días tocaba circuncidar
al niño, y le pusieron por nombre Jesús, como lo había llamado el ángel
antes de su concepción.
HOMILÍA 1
Feliz Año Nuevo a todos.
Estrenamos año. Nos deseamos felicidades y
algunos hacen propósitos nuevos.
Yo les doy un consejo: no hagan ningún
propósito. He escuchado tantas promesas y he visto tan pocos resultados.
¿Por qué no los cumplimos? ¿ Por qué no cambiamos?
 El
secreto del cambio no está en nosotros. Sólo el Señor hará el cambio si
se lo permitimos.
Año nuevo, sí. Nuevo si lo vivimos con el
Señor.
Año nuevo, sí. Nuevo si estamos abiertos a
todos.
Año nuevo, sí. Nuevo en el que lo hace todo
nuevo.
Él que nos hace a todos nuevos.
Feliz Año Nuevo a todos en el Señor Jesús.
HOY, ENERO 1, damos la bienvenida al año nuevo.
En el
 calendario,
recién estrenado, el 1 está en rojo, es fiesta. No celebramos un número.
Celebramos, los cristianos, a María como Madre de Dios.
En este tiempo de Navidad, María es el vehículo
de la divinidad.
Hoy, oramos también por la paz al Príncipe de
la Paz recién llegado a nuestra tierra ensangrentada.
"El Señor te bendiga y te proteja, ilumine su
rostro sobre ti y te conceda su favor; el Señor se fije en ti y te
conceda la paz". Números 6, 22-27
María es la hija de Israel, la hija de Sión, la
heredera de las bendiciones del Dios de Israel. Sí, El "ha mirado la
humillación de su esclava".
La Navidad anuncia la paz a los hombres de
buena voluntad.
La paz no es un meteorito caído del cielo. LA
PAZ que trae Jesús es
 un
fruto que sólo crece en el corazón de los que lo acogen..
"María conservaba todas estas cosas,
meditándolas en su corazón ".
No la cabeza sino el corazón es el lugar
secreto donde Dios se cita con los hombres. Y María por la fe concibió a
Jesús en su corazón antes que en su cuerpo.
La humanidad se siente amenazada , no por la
presencia de Jesús nacido en Belén, sino por la maldad albergada en
tantos corazones aún no sanados ni abiertos al Príncipe de la Paz.
"El que es bueno, de la bondad que almacena en
su corazón saca el bien, y el que es malo, de la maldad saca el mal;
porque lo que rebosa del corazón lo habla la boca". Lucas 6, 45
El mundo ha multiplicado las armas, el mayor
negocio inventado por los hombres, que nos pueden aniquilar en cualquier
momento. No
 estamos
precisamente en la Gran Víspera de la Paz. El sueño imposible se hará
verdad cuando los hombres alberguen pensamientos de paz en sus
corazones.
Hoy oramos con María, Madre de la Paz y corazón
lleno de Dios, para recibir como ella las bendiciones de Dios al
comenzar este nuevo año.
"El amor no murió en la cruz, simplemente
eligió no luchar".
"No hay camino hacia la paz. La paz es el
camino".
"Si deseáis ser hermanos, soltad las armas de
vuestras manos. No se puede amar empuñando las armas". Pablo VI
HOMILÍA 2
THE SOLEMNITY MOTHER OF GOD
Let us take a walk back in time when we all read the old Peanuts comic
strip. Lucy is walking with Charlie Brown and Charlie asks her, “Lucy,
are you going to make any New Year’s resolutions?
Lucy hollers back at him off his feet: What? What for? What’s wrong with
me now? I like myself the way I am? Why should I change? What in the
world is the matter with you, Charlie Brown? I’m all right the way I am!
I don’t have to improve. How could I improve? How I ask you? How”?
I look at myself in the mirror and I say, Oh my God, how I have changed
physically! I am a “new” person. My former parishioners do not recognize
me.
I hope, spiritually, am also a “new” and a much better person.
Today, as many people in the world, we celebrate the beginning of a “New
Year”, and our Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Mother of God.
“New” is one of those words in our vocabulary that brings a smile to our
faces and great excitement to our hearts.
“New” is always big news. New love, new job, new house, new birth...multiple
opportunities to rejoice.
God is the God of beginnings.
We have begun the celebration of the Eucharist proclaiming the beautiful
blessing we have in the book of Numbers, a blessing we should remember
and even know by heart.
“ The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine on you.
The Lord turn his face toward you,
And give you peace”. (Numbers 6,24-26)
I am glad that 2020 is over. It was not the best of times, it was merely
the worst of times. And we have learned “new” words, pandemic, Mr.
Coronavirus… It has been a tough year for all of us, believers and
believers, we are the “new” Coronavirus Catholics.
We’ve had the opportunity to spend more quality time with God and our
family, to pray more rosaries, to open our Bibles, and to read and re-read
our favorite book, the Book of Job.
Let us hope that 2021 will be somewhat different.
Looking back is good. We remember the lessons learned and give thanks
for God’s blessings.
Looking forward is good. We ask questions, What will happen that will
alter my life? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
Today we look to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as it were for the first time.
In fact, it is the first time in the “new” year, 2021
Fearless, we believe in tomorrow. Tomorrow belongs to God, and he is in
control.
We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, We do not want to see Coronavirus fear
in Catholic eyes.
“On the first day of the year, Pope Francis writes, we celebrate the
nuptial union between God and humankind inaugurated in the womb of a
woman. In God there will forever be our humanity and Mary will forever
be the Mother of God, this is what is essential”.
Let us not forget the message that matters to us, the Gospel we have
proclaimed.
“Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart”.
The shepherds saw the Infant Jesus and left. They are part of the show,
they are there for decoration.
Mary and Joseph are there for good, for love, they have a “new” mission.
The Gospel does not say anything about Joseph, the important thing is
that he was present, but it says that MARY, Jesus’ mother and the Mother
of God, reflected on these things in her heart.
MARY is the first contemplative Christian.
Modern men and women whose lives have become too full and too fast have
the same need to “treasure and reflect”. We too must ponder the Word and
incarnate Jesus in our lives.
To make reflection part of our prayer life is today more difficult and
more necessary than ever.
To get rid of the weapons of mass distraction: four or five screens in
your apartment, a cell phone in your pocket, a Facebook account, an
Instagram account... is a must. They demand your whole attention, they
are an occasion for sin.
And what about inside each one of us? We are full of self-centered
worries and preoccupations, if we were to take a picture of our soul it
would probably look like a cluttered garage, with regrets, hopes, dirty
clothes, broken toys, old newspapers...piled up to the ceiling.
Where to find solitude and silence in the secular city?
Turn off all your gadgets and enjoy the silence.
I love to visit the Little Church Around the Corner and the Cloisters
and the Tompkins Square Park… but remember there is more noise in your
hearts than in the busy streets of the City.
We have a tradition of making New Year’s Resolutions. Why not make the
resolution to spend this year learning from our spiritual Mother how to
let God put order, peace, and wisdom into our lives by keeping all these
things and reflecting on them in our hearts.
Jesus, born under the Law, had to do what the Law demanded, to be
circumcised. Circumcision involves cutting of the flesh and the shedding
of blood, the first blood, in this way he became a true Israelite. And
he was named Jesus “the name the angel had given him before he was
conceived”.
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