“When we were little, we kept close to our mother in a dark alley or if dogs barked at us. Now, when we feel temptations of the flesh, we should run to the side of our Mother in Heaven, by realizing how she is to us, and by means of aspirations. She will defend us and lead us to the light.”

We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor his Mother, and we honor her simply and solely to honor him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son. --Saint Louis Marie de Montfort: (1673 – 1716: was a French Roman Catholic priest and Confessor.)

Gospel Text: (LK 2:16-21)

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,
they made known the message
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.

When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.

The first day of the New Year, is dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God. The Holy Spirit came to fill her with his power. He elevated her motherhood to the highest level, so that Mary is in reality the mother of the Incarnate Word of God.

To become one of us, God asked a young maiden for her cooperation in the divine plan. She said, "Yes," and with that "Yes" Mary became the Mother of God. God's greatest lesson for us remains ever the same: God so loves us that he chose to send his Son to be one of us – with a human mind and human knowledge, with human emotions and a human body.. And God's greatest call to us is the same as to Mary - to say "yes" to God in our lives.