Posted by Word Alive–Fr. Bel San Luis, SVD
January 1st, 2023 / Solemnity of the Holy Mother of God
As we begin a brand new year, let’s thank the Lord for the graces and blessings we’ve received. Some pessimist might say, “What’s there to thank when we’re going through hard times?” “Many are still recovering excruciatingly from the economic crisis of Covid-19 pandemic.”
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Be positive. We’re still alive. Let’s learn from our mistakes and start a new beginning. A young man who got married to a movie celebrity discovered after a few months that they were irreconcilable due to a bad habit of one.
The marriage did not last long, ending sadly in an annulment at the civil court.
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Then there is this man whose business was faltering, causing him to incur huge debts. The agonizing experience was a wake-up call. He examined where he did wrong, and gradually made a big turn-around. The New Year gives us a new chance to grow as a better person, a better worker, a better husband or wife, a more virtuous Christ’s follower.
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January 1st marked the feast of the MOTHERHOOD OF MARY. The Church fittingly entrusts us to our spiritual mother right at the start of the year. The wedding episode in Cana shows the powerful influence of Mama Mary (John chapter 2). The newly married couple had a problem: they ran out of wine at the height of the feast. For the Jews, that was very embarrassing. Seeing the couple’s predicament, the Blessed Mother rushed to Jesus, and told him to do something.
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Jesus remonstrated: “What’s that to me…my hour (to do something extraordinary) has not yet come.” But as an obedient son, he could not turn down his mother’s order. He performed a miracle, converting the six jars filled with water into a “most delicious wine.”
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The incident shows the unspeakable power of Mother Mary. If you go to her in times of trials and adversities, no doubt she will help you. As the saying goes, “A mother knows best.” How much more our spiritual mother, Mama Mary.
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MAKING RESOLUTIONS. When the teachers returned to school after the Christmas vacation, the school principal said: “Let’s all write our New Year’s resolutions about how we can be better teachers and I’ll put them on the staff bulletin board.” The teachers agreed and when the resolutions were posted, they all gathered around the bulletin board to read them.
One of the young teachers suddenly went into a fit of anger. “He didn’t put up my resolution. He doesn’t care about me. That just shows what it is like around here.”
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On and on she ranted and raved. The principal, who overheard this from his office, felt humiliated. He didn’t mean to exclude her resolution.
Quickly rummaging through the papers on his table, he found it and immediately went to the bulletin board to post it. The resolution read, “I resolve not to let little things upset me.”
LESSON: There’s a wide gap between making a resolution and FULFILLING it.
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PASSAGES. Fr. Gaudencio Pugat, SVD, 64, passed away last December 26 at the SVD community residence of the of Divine Word College of Laoag. He served as president of DWCL for almost one term (3 years). He also acted as provincial superior of the SVD Northern Province. Burial will take place in the SVD cemetery in Pindangan, La Union on January 2.
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Fr. Dante Venus, SVD, while accompanying pilgrims at the Holy Land, Israel, suffered a heart attack. He was revived in the hospital but failed to recover fully. He died on December 27. Fr. Dante served as head of development and promotion office and councilor at the Divine Word Institute of Mission Studies, Tagaytay. Requiescant in pacem.
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