January 1, 2025
New Year’s is a day of new beginnings, goals, celebrations, and reflections. And it’s also one of the most special days in the Church – the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of Jesus and the World Day of Peace.
Joan Chittester writes:
"On January 1st, New Year’s Day… We need to begin to see all women as bearers of the grace of God and bringers of the Word. That would be a new beginning that could change the world again."
Bridget Mary Meehan writes:
"…the medieval mind had no problem with fantastical stories of the priesthood of Mary. Perhaps, this was because they were familiar with the papal bulls, episcopal letters and archaeological evidence of women in sacred orders in early Christian communities.
The bottom line is that women priests are here to stay no matter what punishment the Vatican dishes out. And a new day of hope is here for gender equality in the Catholic Church! So, let's celebrate the priesthood of Mary and the international Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement as a holy shakeup of the liberating Spirit in our times!
‘Tis of solemn significance that we celebrate today! We can recall many stories and images of Mary throughout the course of human history. The most compelling truth among them all is that her life manifests the hope that humanity so desperately needs.
Our prayer continues:
Hail Mary, full of grace, give us a sense of the fullness of God in our lives. Because Jesus was with you, all women are full of graces, too long denied, too long undeveloped. Blessed are you as a woman. Without you the Incarnation would never have been possible. Holy Mary, Mother of Jesus, pray with us, so that your son may be seen in the women of our day, now and for all eternity. Amen. —from A Monastery Almanac, by Joan Chittister (adapted)
Meditation: Before Jesus Was His Mother
by Alla Bozarth
Before supper in the upper room,
breakfast in the barn.
Before the Passover Feast, a feeding trough.
And here, the altar of Earth, fair linens of hay and seed.
Before his cry, her cry.
Before his sweat of blood, her bleeding and tears.
Before his offering, hers.
Before the breaking of bread and death,
the breaking of her body in birth.
Before the offering cup,
the offering of her breast.
Before his blood, her blood.
And by her body and blood alone,
his body and blood and whole human being.
The wise ones knelt to hear
the woman’s word in wonder.
Holding up her sacred child,
her spark of God in the form of a babe,
she said: “Receive and let your hearts be healed
and your lives be filled with love, for
This is my body, This is my blood.”
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