January 3
"So God created man in His own image."
-Genesis 1:26
For Reflection
What does this passage tell us about ourselves and who we were created to be? What does it tell you about all of human life?
January 2
"God is love." -John 4:16
For Reflection
What is love? What are its characteristics? What is the true purpose of love? Where did you see love operating in your life in 2019? How will you love more in 2020?
January 1 Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
- John 3:16
For Reflection
Why would God do such a thing even as man often stubbornly opposes His divine will? As we enter this New Year, how can you more freely accept God's amazing gift to us, Jesus Christ? Ask Mary, Mother of God, to intercede for you to have greater receptivity to every grace and blessing that He desires to give you in this New Year and new decade.
December 31
Eve of the Feast of Mary, Mother of God
Mother benign of our redeeming Lord, Star of the sea and portal of the skies, Unto thy fallen people help afford – Fallen, but striving still anew to rise. Thou who dids’t once, while wond’ring worlds adored, Bear thy Creator, Virgin then as now, O by thy holy joy at Gabriel’s word, Pity the sinners who before thee bow.
-Roman Breviary, Antiphon of the Blessed Virgin
For Reflection
Spend some quiet moments with Mary by reflecting on this antiphon. Journal your reflections.
December 28
“True love of God consists in adhering perfectly to His holy will, not desiring to do or to be other than what God indicates for each of us, to the point of becoming, as it were, “a living will of God.”
-Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, OCD
For Reflection
How does the Blessed Virgin Mary demonstrate true love of God according to the definition given to us in this quote? How and why is she the icon of “a living will of God?” To what extent am I the same? What one strategy in the coming new year can I employ to help me be more so? Add it to my list of resolutions.
December 27
“The Blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will and so it was for her a greater thing to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been His mother, and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood.”
-St. Augustine
For Reflection
Consider this quote in light of Luke 11: 27-28. Write your thoughts and reflections. How did Mary’s discipleship begin at the moment of the Annunciation and continue throughout her life? To what extent does your discipleship mirror hers? Formulate a new year’s resolution to help you grow in this way in the coming year.
