And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

Happy New Year once again.  Today is the first day of 2019 and so we begin another year.  I recall at the start of every year a phrase one of my former co-workers used all the time when he left a phone message.  Usually the message states that one can’t get to the phone or they are away from their desk and requests the caller to leave their name, phone number and the time the call was made.  Tony would always give his name, followed by the time of day and then state “in the year of our Lord” and give the year.  So in honor of Tony, I am writing you this post today, at 7:04 AM, January 1st in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Nineteen.

And how does Mother Church choose to start our New Year?  By honoring the commandment to honor your Father and Mother.  We honor our Father by attending Mass.  The Church defines this as a Solemnity and as such, is a day of obligation (meaning, get out of bed and get to Church).  We honor our Mother by making the solemnity in honor of her – The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.

The readings for today are beautiful once again.  In particular, I want you to reflect on St. Paul’s comments in the second reading from his letter to the Galatians…

Brothers and sisters:
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.
As proof that you are sons,
God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying out, “Abba, Father!”
So you are no longer a slave but a son,
and if a son then also an heir, through God.

So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir, through God.  An heir?  Does this mean I have rights to the throne of God?  Wanting to make sure I don’t steer you down a wrong path, I spent some time reading articles on the web to see if I actually have rights to the kingdom.  The short answer is yes.  A more detailed answer can be found in this article I found while reading about being an heir.

So today, in honor of our Blessed Mother and God our Father, let us recall our centuries old salutation to our Blessed Mother…

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.  Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death.  Amen.

Do something great for our Lord today – honor your Father and Mother and get to Mass; be a just heir to the kingdom.

God’s will, not mine, be done.

Be not afraid; just have faith.

Jesus, I trust in You.