The Solemnity of Mary

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Special to the HERALD
(From the issue of 1/10/02)

The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde on Jan. 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington.

As we gather together in worship on this holy day of obligation, we focus on three different but inter-connected realities: the first day of the year 2002, Mary, Mother of God, and world peace. Yes, today is the first day of a New Year! In the liturgy, we honor Mary, the Mother of God, and all Catholics all over the world united with Pope John Paul II, are praying today for peace in a special way.

Peace! How we yearn for true and lasting peace in our hearts, within our families and throughout the world. Peace is so intrinsically linked with Christmas – the birth of God’s Son, who is the Prince of Peace. St. Augustine writes: "The birthday of the Lord is the birthday of peace, as Paul the Apostle says: For he is our peace…."

Yes, Jesus is our peace! By His birth and, then, by His dying and rising, He has taken away all that divides and separates us from God and one another, namely, our sins. He has reconciled us with God and with one another. Peace is born when we are reconciled.

On this New Year’s Day, we long for true peace even as we see unrest and civil strife all over the world: fighting continues between Israel and Palestine and between Pakistan and India; the war on terrorism goes on in Afghanistan and beyond, and threats of future terrorist attacks still haunt us.

And if that were not enough, we face the lack of peace in other arenas of life: so many families experience bitterness and disunity; violence raises its ugly head in many ways, including domestic abuse; life itself continues to be attacked from conception all the way through to natural death.

Around us, then, we see so many signs signaling the absence of peace. So, on this New Year’s Day, we turn instinctively to the Mother of God, who is also our mother, and ask her to obtain for us that conversion of mind and heart, which will lead to true and lasting peace.

As we pray for peace, we realize that there can be no peace among nations and within families unless there is first peace within each individual person. As the familiar song puts it: "Let there be peace and let it begin with me." Therefore, gazing at the Prince of Peace lying in the manger and asking the help of Mary and of Joseph, each of us prays today that we can become channels or instruments of God’s peace.

In his Message for today’s celebration of the World Day of Peace, our Holy Father points to three ingredients that are essential for peace to exist within individuals, families and nations: justice, forgiveness and prayer. Pope John Paul II writes: "The pillars of true peace are justice and that form of love which is forgiveness" (no. 2). To act justly and to offer forgiveness requires that we transcend our weak and frail human nature, so prone to selfishness and revenge. That is why we need to pray for the grace to be converted and transformed. Again, our Holy Father writes: "Precisely for this reason, prayer for peace is not an afterthought to the work of peace. It is of the very essence of building the peace of order, justice and freedom. To pray for peace is to open the human heart to the inroads of God’s power to renew all things. … God can create openings for peace where only obstacles and closures are apparent. … To pray for peace is to pray for justice, for a right-ordering of relationships within and among nations and peoples. … To pray for peace is to seek God’s forgiveness, and to implore the courage to forgive those who have trespassed against us" (no. 14).

Since peace begins with each of us, we individually must ask: am I just in my relationships, beginning with family members? Do I forgive those who hurt me and those I love? Do I pray for the grace to learn how to forgive? Am I praying each day for that conversion of mind and heart, which leads to reconciliation between myself and God, myself and others – that reconciliation from which true peace begins to blossom and to endure?

Yes, on this first day of the year 2002, with our eyes turned toward Mary, the Mother of the Prince of Peace, we ask that we might be recreated into becoming and remaining channels of peace within our families and communities.

Permit me to end this homily with the closing paragraph of our Holy Father’s Message of today’s World Day of Peace. "On this World Day of Peace, may a more intense prayer rise from the hearts of all believers for the victims of terrorism, for their families so tragically stricken, for all the peoples who continue to be hurt and convulsed by terrorism and war. May the light of our prayer extend even to those who gravely offended God and man by these pitiless acts, that they may look into their hearts, see the evil of what they do, abandon all violent intentions, and seek forgiveness. In these troubled times, may the whole human family find true and lasting peace, born of the marriage of justice and mercy!" (no. 15). To this, we all respond: Amen! A blessed and peace-filled New Year to each of you!

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