At Mary’s School: How to Answer God’s Word

(Fr. Andrew’s Homily for January 1^st)

“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” (Luke 2:18-19).

The shepherds’ job is to proclaim what has been revealed to them. All those who hear the shepherds are amazed at what they hear. Mary goes beyond the amazement: she also ponders the message in her heart.

1.  In the Catholic Church, we call our leaders “shepherds.” This tradition comes from the Bible itself (cf. 1 Peter 5:2; John 10: 1-18, 21:15-17). It is interesting, however, that while God chose a shepherd, David, to be the king of Israel, He chose instead fishermen to be the leaders of the new people of God. They are both shepherds of God’s flock and fishers of people. They are fishers because they rescue people form the waves of worldly life and sin so that people may become the food of God and of His Christ. Indeed, when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, not only Jesus becomes our food, but also we ourselves become part of the Body of Jesus and, in that sense, we are the “food” of God. God enjoys us as His friends, as we enjoy Him as our God and Lord. The apostles fish people for God because God wants to enjoy people’s friendship in Heaven. But fishing is not easy: you begin with nothing and, at the end of the day, you may end up with nothing. Still, the fisher must hope and keep working: the Lord will help (cf. Luke 5:4-11; John 21:1-14).

The leaders of the Church are also shepherds because, once people are rescued from sin, they do not die like the fish but become a flock which must be taken care of. The shepherd must protect and feed the flock. Sometimes he must also rescue a lost sheep. But the shepherds who went to see baby Jesus left the real sheep to find the newborn Shepherd of God’s people.

2.  The shepherds announced what they had heard and people were amazed. A great message, announced by humble people but coming from the angels... The message is amazing. Have we lost the sense of awe before this message? Perhaps, because the message is preached by humble and ordinary shepherds, or because the shepherds sometimes are not good witnesses of the message with their lives, people tend to listen with less interest, and even get bored...

May we never lose our amazement. This might be a poor shepherd, but the message comes from angels. This is just a humble person, but the story is about God. He chose the humble for great things... Moreover, humble people are good listeners, whereas proud people think they know everything and only listen to themselves or to what they want to hear. The Lord preaches good news to the poor and humble. And the humble are amazed, because they would never have thought that God would come so low, so close to them, as to share the roof with sheep and cattle. It is amazing because it is true: God is with us.

3.  It is not enough to be amazed: “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” She kept because she remembered the shepherds’ words, she treasured all that she saw and lived. She reflected on the things she remembered: she was not content with the sound of the words but tried to go deep into their meaning.

How do we remember the words and deepen into their meaning? In order to deepen into their meaning we need to remember them first, they need to be in front of our eyes even when we are not reading them. We need to remember the word of God, His message. How do we do that?

-  Be amazed at what you hear: we remember amazing things because of the impression they cause in us. It may help, when we hear or listen to the Word of God, to remember Who is speaking, what He is talking about and to whom He is talking. Is it not amazing that God is interested in talking to us?

-  Pay more attention to God’s message. We always pay attention to the things we like, to the things we need, to the things which bring a great deal of danger or suffering and to the things which can bring a great success in life. God’s word is about life and death issues, about eternity, about salvation and condemnation, about the way to be good, about the road towards happiness. This message is the answer to our deepest desires, the response to the big questions and the remedy to human suffering. It is the message about God’s love for human beings, about God’s mercy towards the sinners, about God’s plan for His children. Those things certainly are worth our attention! If we pay more attention, we will better remember God’s word.

-  Certainly, reading or listening to the Bible more often also helps to remember.

“Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” Let us imitate our Mother. You may have heard that the Bible is like a letter from God to human kind. Do we not answer the letters we receive? When we read the Bible, let us reflect. What did the Lord mean? What is He saying to me? What should I answer? I don’t think the Lord expects complicated letters in return. Perhaps He wants just a “yes”... May our Lady teach us to be amazed, and also to remember, reflect and respond.