Ave Maria! In his homily on January 1, 2013, the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, Pope Benedict raised the following questions: “We may ask ourselves: what is the basis, the origin, the root of peace? How can we experience that peace within ourselves, in spite of problems, darkness and anxieties?” These are the concerns of our own hearts during the turbulence of our times. Is inner peace possible? Can we truly grasp it or must it always remain elusive?
The Holy Father looks to Our Lady for an answer. Turning to the gospel for this Solemnity, Luke 2:16-21, he notes that St. Luke asks us “to contemplate the interior peace of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.” Pondering Mary’s interior attitude, the Holy Father reflects:
“During the days in which ‘she gave birth to her first-born son,’ many unexpected things occurred: not only the birth of the Son but, even before, the tiring journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, not finding room at the inn, the search for a chance place to stay for the night; then the song of the angels and the unexpected visit of the shepherds. In all this, however, Mary remains even tempered, she does not get agitated, she is not overcome by events greater than herself; in silence she considers what happens, keeping it in her mind and heart, and pondering it calmly and serenely. This is the interior peace which we ought to have amid the sometimes tumultuous and confusing events of history, events whose meaning we often do not grasp and which disconcert us.”Mary, Queen of Peace, shows us how to be peaceful. She always leads us to her Divine Child, the Prince of Peace (Is 9:6). The new year has begun. Let us turn to Our Lady and ask her to help us make it a peaceful one, by clinging as she did to her Beloved Son Jesus, who is Himself our peace (Eph 2:14)
And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
~Phil 4:7
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