The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
In one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors ("Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon), the author writes, "The thing is, you never really start over. You don't lose all the work that's come before. Even when you try to toss it aside, the lessons that you've learned from it will seep into what you do next. So don't think of it as starting over. Think of it as beginning again." This could easily be a description of our lives as Christians, falling and rising in our striving for holiness and pursuit of God.
We celebrate today not only the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, but also the beginning of a new year. It is a time when we re-examine our pursuits and the motivations behind them. While the year being left behind feels tired and spent, the new year feels fresh, clean, and full of possibility. It's as blank and undefiled as newly fallen snow some of us experience around this time of year. The question then becomes how to approach this fresh time, and how do we begin so as to make the most of it?
Since what we do and how we think stem from the way we understand ourselves and the rest of the world, a good first step is to remember who we are and what we are about. The second reading from today makes it clear: "When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons... So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son then also an heir, through God." We are reminded through the words of St. Paul of our very real and substantial place in God's family. Today is not only an acknowledgment of Mary as the Mother of God, but a recognition that she is OUR mother as well through God's love and providence.
If you are feeling downhearted by the shortcomings of the year that has passed or overwhelmed by what it would mean to achieve what you hope for in this coming year, remember your dignity and worth as God's adopted heir. And begin again.
Andrew Montpetit is a Motion Graphic Designer / Animator in West Michigan. He greatly enjoys good films and deep, substantive conversations about beauty and its pursuit. You can find his work on his website.