THE OCTAVE DAY OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD; SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD

The Lord bless you and keep you! 

Happy 2021! All of us at The Word Among Us pray that this will be a year of great blessing for you. Today, as we begin with a clean slate, we hear the prayer God gave Moses as a promise: “I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27). And who better to be our model for receiving God’s blessing than Mary!

Mary is the most blessed among women, but her blessings didn’t come in traditional ways. She was poor. She faced an unexpected pregnancy. She lived under occupation. And she had to deliver her baby in a stable. After Joseph died, she had to raise Jesus on her own. And when she accompanied Jesus, she had nowhere to lay her head, just like him. Then she endured the agony of seeing her son beaten and crucified.

Surely these didn’t seem like blessings! Yet just as the angel had promised, by making Mary the Mother of God, God blessed not only her but the whole world through her (Luke 1:31-33).

So how did Mary recognize and receive her blessings? She “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Mary remembered and she pondered. Perhaps she asked God, “What are you doing here? How are you fulfilling your promise to me? Teach me and help me to trust you.” As her life progressed, she continued to understand more and more about what it meant that her child was the eternal Son of God and what her role was in God’s plan of salvation. So Mary can teach us how to open our hearts to all of God’s blessings.

Like Mary, recall God’s faithfulness. Try to identify his blessings from last year—some that were obvious and some that came wrapped in a package of suffering. Ask the Lord to help you see how he fulfilled his promise of blessing in 2020. And dream a little. How might God want to bless you this coming year? He is faithful to his promise. He will bless you!

“Open my eyes to recognize and receive your blessings this year, Lord.”

Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6, 8
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:16-21
Numbers 6:22-27

WORD AMONG US