by Fr Joachim Robert
Numbers 6:22-27
Psalm 66:2-3,5,6-8
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:16-21
Theme: God Speaks To Us Through His Son, Jesus
Dear friends,
As we are in the threshold of 2024 and coming to this threshold of 2024, many of us are privileged to take that moment to ponder, to reflect how the whole year has been for us. Some of us perhaps had no time to do anything, just going from one thing to the other and we await for a next year, 2025, with a certain expectation.
But today’s Gospel invites us, as Mary pondered everything in her heart, she invites us to take those moments, those experiences that we have encountered throughout this 2024 and ponder them. And pondering, not only going through an event after an event after an event, but pondering of what is actually happening, around us and within us.
And when we are able to ponder, to see where God has been there in and through our moments of 2024, we can either be filled with gratitude, confident that God has been assuring in all those little, little moments even though it may be moments which have been difficult or we can not bother about what has happened and just move on like it is just a passing moment.
But if we allow, dear friends, if we allow to ponder our experiences like Mary in acknowledging how God sees those experiences and how we have grown through those experiences, then we have all the reason to be grateful, to be thankful because God has been there all through those moments.
And as I reflect on the parish, there has been so many activities that we have been going through. But as we move together as a parish, our growth in inclusivity, our growth in care, our growth in unity brings about a newer realisation of what we are called to do as church. And as we look at the whole church’s path of synodality, the whole church journeying together in this common path of synodality, makes us come to a deeper realisation that we are indeed pilgrims on this journey of life, this journey of the church.
And as you know on the eve of 24th, in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis opened that door in Rome. And that holy door marked the beginning of the Jubilee Year 2025. And the theme that was taken was Pilgrims of Hope. And Pope Francis called the whole church, all Catholics, to be Pilgrim of Hope, moving towards 2025, trusting in this God who loves us, this God who comes to make His dwelling among us ,as we celebrated on Christmas at the Incarnation. And as He allows us to journey together, He restores our hope, He restores our vision.
And if we look at our Christian values, dear friends, very often everything that touches our very heart links between hope and kindness. And when we are able to touch each other’s life, when we are able to be a friend to the other, when we are able to be a witness of Christ to the people around us, we indeed live the Gospel values and we become hope for the other.
And hope and kindness, dear friends, is not a strategy. It is not something that we have to fulfil so that we can attain salvation. Hope and kindness is a form of love that opens our hearts to acceptance and it helps us to know who we are in all humility.
When we approach one another, when we approach events of our lives, and when we confront situations in this call to fraternity, then our hearts open to accept and that acceptance helps us to grow more human.
And dear friends, if you look at the situations that is around us, we can find ourselves so much of injustices, imbalance of power and sometimes we can get disheartened, we can get disillusioned. But here we are invited, as we reflect and ponder like Mary, that we need to take stock of our lives, that we need to move from a heart of gratitude, taking things with gratitude in our hearts rather than taking things for granted.
Because very often, dear friends, when we take things for granted, we do not appreciate others, we do not appreciate ourselves, and we do not appreciate what we have. But when we allow ourselves to fill our heart with gratitude and thanksgiving, then our whole orientation of life changes and it becomes more and more and more life-giving.
And as you reflect your whole life in 2024 and as you prepare towards 2025, how are you preparing yourself? How are you allowing that grace of God that is already at work in your life, how are you going to recognise them and move forward with 2025 with hope?
And I would like to offer you four words.
The first is ‘G‘. G to be GOD-CENTRED in every situation. When you reflect at your own life, when you reflect at your own events and moments and circumstances of life, can you see how God has been present, how God has been there? And when you are able to recognise how God has been present and so real in your life, then fill your heart with gratitude.
And the second thing that I like to propose to you is the word ‘L‘. Look at those events and those moments and these people in your life with LOVE. And when you are able to see those moments, events, people with love, then you come to a deeper appreciation of who you are. Because when you are able to react in a certain way, it is not only speaking about them but it also speaks about us because the situation that is around us makes us realise that perhaps sometimes we lack love. And when we look at that opportunity, we have to acknowledge where we have lacked love and we should pray to grow in this aspect of love and to love even though they may be our enemies.
And the third letter that I would like to propose is ‘O‘. The word OBEDIENCE. And when you struggle and when you discern on certain decisions that you make, dear friends, whether it is from God, whether it is not from God, you need to be obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in your life and truly acknowledge and recognise those moments, of moments of encounter of how God is leading you in the same way of how the Good News was announced to the shepherds in Bethlehem and they proclaimed the Good News to everybody. So we need to be obedient before God.
And the fourth thing is that we need to grow in WISDOM and maturity. And when we allow our hearts to speak to us, when we listen to God’s voice prompting us, nudging us to move from one state to the other, moving from one situation to the other, we come to a deeper realisation that God is indeed helping us to grow in wisdom and grace.
And the four words, dear friends, is GLOW.
So I pray that as you prepare your hearts for 2024 conclusion and prepare towards 2025, that you may GLOW in hope:-
~ that you may glow in the hope that God is there with you;
~ that you will put love at the centre of everything that you do:
~ that you will be obedient to God;
~ and that you will grow in wisdom.
And when you are able to GLOW in HOPE and in JESUS, then you can become a messenger of hope towards the people around you.
So let us pray, dear friends, let us pray that as we celebrate with thanksgiving this 2024, a time that we remember with gratefulness and thanksgiving in our hearts, a time that God has placed so specially in our lives.
And for me, yes, it has made me go through many, many different decisions, different obstacles and has made me also to make different changes but all through those moments, I can see God’s assuring hands leading me through all those moments. And I want to look at those moments with a heart of gratitude because what has happened in and through that journey of 2024 is a journey of discovery. A journey of discovering who God is in my life.
And when you are able to recognise who God is in your life, then your life’s perspective, your life’s mission changes its orientation.
And I pray for you, dear friends, as you embark on this journey of 2025, and Pope Francis has called us to become a Pilgrim of Hope, and as a pilgrim, our focus must always be in this God who draws us to Himself. I pray that you may grow in this path of healing and reconciliation, that as a community that we may grow more united, more inclusive, more caring and more united in everything that we do.
And as we embark together in 2025, in this Jubilee Year of Hope, let us pray that we may become agents of hope towards one another. And if you remain hopeful for yourself, then you become hopeful for the person next to you. Then you become hopeful for the person in your families. Then you become hopeful for the community and then you make a change and you become a hope towards one another.
So let us pray with this journey of 2025 that our lives may be filled with every grace and blessings that comes from God and it may be full of hope in this Jubilee Year of Hope.
Lastly, as the First Reading invites us, as Moses says to Aaron and his sons:
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover His face to you and bring you peace.
Let us bless one another. Let us bless one another during this Jubilee Year of Hope so that we remain a blessing to one another and to ourselves.
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Click to live-stream Mass on 31 December 2024