Our celebrant at this morning’s 5 a.m. Simbang Gabi Mass had a confession. Just as when he celebrated last year, when his alarm clock went off at 3:45 a.m., it took him a few minutes to recall what was going on and why he had to be up so early. Something entirely new was afoot, not an emergency or a mistake.
“Something Entirely New” was the theme for Father Dundon’s homily. He noted that at the Visitation, Elizabeth’s thought was not of herself or her own pregnancy: “She cried out to Mary, full of energy and life, blessed are you!”
On the shortest day of the year, we should all be aware and joyful something entirely new is coming, Father Dundon said: mor
e light in the morning and evening, the coming of the baby Jesus. He encouraged us to be as excited as a group of children waiting for Santa.
Father Dundon also spoke of Mary’s strength and bravery, virtues I’ve found myself more and more drawn to this year in prayer and study. Jesus drew life from Mary… yet as his ministry went on, he necessarily grew further and further from her, ending in the moments before his death when he said to her, “Woman, behold your son,” referring to another disciple and by extension to all of us. Much of Mary’s life consisted of things entirely new. Her strong faith allowed her to accept it all as she pondered the situations and examined them deep in her heart and soul. The woman was seldom given to knee-jerk reactions.
And perhaps, in a world given to thin-slicing and snap judgments and condemnations, that’s a good place to start something entirely new: with prayer and love and leaving the judgment to the Lord.
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