Mary, Mother of God 2004.
What is your most
important memory? What do you remember
most clearly and most powerfully out of the things that happened during your
lifetime? Our memories, both good and bad, tell us much about what we did with
the gift of time in years gone by.
Memories are very
important in helping us to live our lives well.
Without memories every day would be a completely new start. We would have no reason to believe in God or
in ourselves because we would have no evidence that we could do anything or
that God had done anything in our lives.
Memories are not daydreams or fantasies that keep us trapped in the
past. Memories are the proof that still
exists in our minds that what we do with the gift of time does matter. Our choices do change us and our world for
better or for worse. Our memories also
show us that no matter what we do, God is there always ready to save us and
lift us up. We all have memories of
times when God surprised us with a blessing when our actions deserved something
else.
Today’s gospel says that
Mary kept all the memories of the first Christmas and reflected on them very
carefully in her heart. Mary remembered
all that had happened. Throughout her
life God continued to speak to her about present events through her memories of
what had happened long ago. Mary needed all of these memories to live faithfully
in the very difficult, hidden and mysterious days that lie ahead. A very well done TV special on Mary showed
the mother of Jesus with the blood of her crucified son running down her face. As she grasped the base of the cross she
prayed “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name… forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” What other prayer would she have prayed
beside the one that Jesus taught her. To get herself through the ugliness and pain
of the cross, Mary had to remember the day when he taught her and the other disciples
that prayer. She had to remember the
words of an angel to her when Jesus became flesh in her womb. She had to remember the moment in
Do you remember what it
was like when you first fell in love with your wife or husband? Do you remember your wedding day and all the
hopes and plans you had on that day? Do
you remember how close God seemed to you in the embrace of the one you loved so
deeply and passionately? You will need
to remember and treasure all of these memories in your heart if and when your
marriage is in trouble. In the power of
God’s grace these memories can give you the courage to love again and live
again.
Do you remember what you
child was like when you first took him or her into your arms? Do you remember how proud you were and the
hopes and plans you had for that child?
You will need to treasure all of these memories in your heart if and
when your child gets into trouble. These
grace-filled memories will help you find a way to love and cherish your child
again.
Do you remember life when
it was fresh and new and exciting? Do
you remember your first big job, or a new friendship, or a new home? You will need all these grace-filled
memories as you get older and life is more difficult and less exciting. Graced-filled memories will help us embrace
and grow through every challenge of life.
Anyone who has lived
during the last fifty years knows that we do not have the foggiest idea of what
challenges we will meet in the years ahead.
It is hard to believe that when I was born there was no TV, no
computers, no Internet, no cassettes or CD’s or satellites. Things will change even faster in the
future. What will we do to survive and
grow?
Mary’s message to us this
day is to keep and treasure God-filled memories in our hearts. It has been over
2000 years since the first Christmas.
Remember Christmas still. God has
been with us through all the changes of the past. God will still be with us, always. Remember the cross and resurrection of Jesus,
it is the promise that God is married to our human race, yesterday, today and
forever. Our future is God’s future too. In every Eucharist we remember God’s
powerful love for the human race in Jesus Christ. In remembering we experience God’s love
again.
Remember all the ways that
God has been faithful to you when you did not know what life was about or
understand what you were doing or where you were going. Remember God’s faithfulness to you in the
concrete events of your own life.
Remember and you will find God and you will find strength for the years
ahead.
Mary kept all these things
and treasured them in her heart. She
found in her God-filled memories the strength to live her life to the
full. May we too find strength by
remembering God’s faithfulness always.