Listening to the Least
New Year Reflection
Scripture:
Numbers 6:22-27,
Galatians 4:4-7,
Luke 2:16-21.
Let us listen to the Word of God for today taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke (Luke 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.”
Reflection
Dear sisters and brothers,
The gospel of today, presents Mary, Joseph, the Infant and the Shepherds.
These are the least ones in the eye of society.
Nevertheless, these are the people, who teach us how to live a joyful and peaceful life without much material comfort.
Let us listen to them one by one.
1. Mary
First and foremost, Mary is a model of new life in Christ.
It was not easy for the society or the community to accept that she had conceived without knowing the husband.
Even though, in the Gospels, it is not written how Mary was treated, when her community people came to know that she was pregnant before getting married, I am sure that she might have gone through humiliation in her life.
Even Joseph wanted to leave her quietly.
What did she do?
“Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
Again, we read: “His mother treasured all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:51).
Mary was a woman, who valued the Word of God.
Mary was a woman, who treasured the Word of God.
Mary was a woman, who made time to meditate on the Word of God.
May was a woman, who made time to ponder on the Word of God.
It is true that the holiness of Mary is attributed to the grace of God.
It does not make us forget that she needed to make an effort in order to cooperate with the grace of God.
She pondered on the Word of God in order to discern what God was saying to her at every stage in her life as the handmaid of God.
Mary found the Word of God, as the divine revelation, in the angels’ words to the shepherds.
And Mary found the Word of God, as the divine protection, in her own experiences as she encountered her son in the temple.
Mary, a young virgin, was least in the eyes of her community.
In spite of her least presence, she listened to the Word of God, the divine revelation and protection, as she listened to the archangel Gabriel and then she finally said that she is the handmaid of God.
Similarly, God speaks to us today through divine revelation, through the Word of God, by reading, listening, teaching and preaching.
Also, through our personal experiences, we experience the Divine Protection in our lives.
If we make time to reflect on the Word of God in our lives as Mary did, we can be a worthy servant in the Kingdom of God in the coming year.
2. Joseph
Joseph was a simple carpenter.
Joseph was a just man.
Joseph was a righteous man.
The Gospels do not say that Joseph was a rich man or a wealthy man.
God found Joseph as worthy servant, the least one.
Joseph too reflected on the Word of God.
Joseph pondered on the Word of God.
Joseph discerned the decision of his life with the help of the Word of God.
Joseph cared about Mary and the Infant.
He was a support for Mary during her delivery time.
He went to Egypt with Mary and the Infant.
He did not think about anything for a second.
He just believed in God’s grace.
He just trusted in God’s protection.
He went to a new country.
He went to a new culture.
He went to a new language.
He went to a new place without even knowing anyone.
He went to a new place without even knowing how he was going to manage his life and his family.
It was not a clear-cut route.
There was no blue print to direct the plan of his life.
He was actually in the dark room not knowing what was waiting for him.
The Word of God was like the lighthouse for Joseph.
Why the lighthouse?
Yes, because it reminded him of God’s love.
The bright shining beam of a lighthouse flashes out in all directions, piercing even through the darkness of any storm.
We too in the same way, like Joseph, are called to be rooted in the Word of God.
Like Joseph, we need to show the light of God’s love and hope to the people journeying through life with us in our lives and in our ministry.
Joseph inspires each one of us to be women and men of inner freedom and integrity.
The Word of God charges us with the spirit of Jesus providing direction and purpose for the different aspects of our life in the coming year.
3. The Infant
The infant is the most helpless human.
The infant always depends on someone particularly the mother.
The Infant in the manger is a new possibility that God is not the way we think.
We need just to be open.
God is beyond our human experience.
God is above our imagination.
God is present in everything.
We are called to feel God’s presence, which is the source of everything.
The infant is pure.
We are called to be childlike.
We read in the scripture:
“Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:4)
Yes, dear sisters and brothers...
God is present in service.
God is present in human love.
God is present in marital relationships.
God is present in the flowers.
God is present in the sunsets.
God is present in the fields.
God is present in the entire nature.
Being open to God actually opens us to the fact that all creation is penetrated by the presence of God.
God’s presence transcends our sensible faculties.
God’s presence reveals the world as a mystery.
God’s presence announces in our experience.
God comes into our mind when it thunders.
God comes into our mind when it rains.
God comes into our mind when we are alone.
God comes into our minds when we are in a traffic jam.
God comes into our minds when we browse through the social media.
God is all we think about.
God comes into our minds with every drop pouring from the cloud, touching our skin.
We feel God’s presence in every inch of our skin and beyond.
God is all we breathe.
God is all we live for.
God becomes human.
4. The Shepherd
The shepherds are a timely reminder that despite the chaos in the world, anyone becomes a messenger.
The angels did not go to the rich.
The angels did not go to the King.
The angels did not go to the intellectuals.
The angels did not go to the priest.
The angels did not go to the elders of the community.
The angels did not go to the influential.
The angels did go to the shepherds.
The shepherd went in haste to pay homage with their limited resources.
The shepherds’ life was full of chaos.
Sometimes they found themselves entangled in the mess.
They were marginalised people.
At that time, they had lost hope.
They had taken a back seat in their lives.
God comes in an unexpected way as the shepherds never expected that they would encounter God in their lives.
This is where we all go wrong.
Whatever the situation in which we find ourselves: a hardship, a disappointment, a decision to make.
God has a solution, an answer that is right for us.
Relax…
Pause…
Then get up…
Start to listen to the least.
It may not lead us to the destiny but definitely, a new story will be written.
A new story is possible.
This story is going to be full of love without any limits.
Let us tell God about our new love story in prayer.
On the other hand, we also listen to what God has to tell us about it.
Dear sisters and brothers,
Prayer is a conversation with God.
But sometimes we pick up the mobile phone, pour out the list of our problems to God and end our call without waiting to hear what God has to say to us in reply.
We had or have this kind of conversation in our lives.
But it is out of our anger……and selfishness.
Lack of listening is a cause for continual problems in our lives and ministry.
We behave as though we already know other’s experience.
It happens with everyone.
All we have to do is ask and listen.
It need to be just a commitment in our lives.
The most powerful way to heal someone is to listen.
Do not think too much or judge them.
Just listen with love.
People start to heal the moment they feel that they are heard as they heard from Jesus.
Still many hear from Jesus Christ through the Word of God and in many ways.
Let us listen more to the voice of God as the shepherds listened.
Let us treasure God’s word like Mary and ponder it in our hearts every day like Joseph.
Then we shall be able to realize our new life in union with the Infant, Jesus Christ in our lives in coming year.
Let me whisper a prayer for you all from the book of Numbers as we all celebrate a New Year 2022:
“The LORD bless you and keep you! ?
The LORD let his face shine upon you,
and be gracious to you! ?
The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!”
May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen…
Wish you all a Happy New Year-2022.
