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Self-Entrustment

It is a beautiful occurrence for the first day of this New Year to fall on Sunday and on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It is as if God wants to tell us that this year Our Lady wants to play a particularly profound role in both our lives and the life of the Church.

The greatest and lasting events occur in silence, and good beginnings commence in the darkness of mystery. We see this in the Mystery of the Incarnation, where Mary becomes the Mother of God in the quiet stillness and darkness of night prayer, and we encounter this in the silent darkness of the tomb where the Mystery of Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead took place.

In the deep mystery of silence, God spoke to Mary. And through Her “yes” to God, She became a model for us of self-entrustment to the Lord and acceptance of His Divine Will.

God gives Himself to us to the degree that we entrust ourselves to Him. He gave Himself completely to Mary because She entrusted Herself entirely to Him. In the silence of our hearts God unceasingly asks each one of us: “Do you trust me? Will you give yourself to Me? Will you accept My loving will?” For most of us—myself included—giving ourselves to God and trusting in Him is a process. We learn to do this through practice over the course of years of trials and experience.

Today’s feast and the special role that God ordained Our Lady to play in our lives as Her spiritual sons and daughters reminds us to turn to Mary and ask Her to teach us to abandon ourselves to God as She did in every situation. Let us make it our practice to turn to Her every day this year because She is our Life, our Sweetness, and our Hope.

Yours in Christ,
Father Arthur

Readings for Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God: Lectionary 18