Mary, Mother of God

by Paul O'Reilly, SJ

When the eighth day came, they gave him the name Jesus.

Happy New Year!

The words just stick in the throat a bit, don’t they? A little over a year ago, I bought a new pair of training shoes. They were called ‘Tsunami’ ­ the name was intended to suggest something swift, something powerful, something impressive ­ something that a fat middle-aged man might aspire to. A few weeks ago I saw the same pair of shoes in the same shop but now they were being sold under a different name. Because, this time last year, the whole world learned the true meaning of the word ‘Tsunami’.

Last year, just about the time that most people in this country were getting together to celebrate Christmas ­ to celebrate the renewed presence of God in the world ­ in a place ­ well actually not so far away ­ nearly a quarter of a million people had their lives destrobyed; millions lost everything they had ever possessed; and ­ perhaps most terrible of all ­ many thousands are still destitute and still stand to lose their lives from preventable famine and disease.

Throughout this year, the people I know have been transfixed with one thought ­ one question.

“What if it happened here?”

What if it was my hometown

- my family

- everything I own

- everything I care about.

What must it be like to lose in a moment ­ quite literally out of a clear blue sky ­ everything I hold dear ­ everything I have trusted in ­ everything I have hoped for?

What if it happened to me?

This was the greatest natural disaster of my lifetime. But, bitterly, it is not unique.

These things have happened beforethey will happen again.

There is little or nothing we can do to stop them.

Even since the Tsunami we have seen other smaller but still enormous devastations ­ the Hurricane in New Orleans and the earthquake in Pakistan.

In the face of such vast forces, we are powerless.

Nature is too strong for us.

We like to think of Nature as something cuddly, soft and warm ­ new born lambs and “natural” herbal hair products.

This is not like that. Nature is red in tooth and claw.

Nature does not care about us.

We believe Human beings are created to be stewards of this world.

Sometimes, we forget that and think of our selves as Lords, if not of the Universe, then at least of our own Planet.

But it is not so.

That is why these disasters are so shattering.

They confront us with the painful reality that we are very small, very weak, very fragile and very short lived lumps of clay within the immensity of a vast, infinite, timeless universe. Suddenly we feel very small, very weak and very alone.

What we saw this time last year was an act of Nature ­
what the insurance salesmen call an act of God and refuse to cover.

Only a man of money could call this an act of God.

Our Scriptures tell us that God is not in the storm;

God is not in the destruction; God is not in the wind;

God is in the still small voice of Faith, Hope and Love.

That voice was been tested last year.

It has been tested before and it will be tested again.

It has never yet been found wanting.

Every Catholic Church I know did whatever it could to participate in helping those who could still be helped. The same was true of every Anglican church I know ­ and every Hindu Temple, and every Muslim mosque, and every Sikh gurdwara, and every Buddhist Temple, and ­ even ­ the gathering places of some people who don’t usually think of themselves as having any Faith at all.

Because there is no human heart that was untouched by this great evil ­ no-one who did not feel compelled to say“this is evil ­ let me do what I can to change it”. GK Chesterton famously said that the doctrine of ‘Original Sin’ was the only one of the Church’s teachings which could be proved. Even if you cannot believe in God and the power of Goodness in the world, then you can at least look around you and see the power of Evil and call it by its proper name.

Those words we speak so carelessly ­ “Happy New Year” ­ they are not a statement; nor even a cheerful greeting; nor even a pious platitude ­ they are a promise, a commitment, a pledge.

If there is hope in a World which can be so Evil, then it has to be in the name of Jesus ­ the name of that little baby who was born ­ soft, weak and apparently defenceless on Christmas Day more than 2,000 years ago. ­ We believethe presence of God on Earth. He did not come as He was expected to come with power as the King of the Jews; he did not come with an army ­ not even an army of social workers and development experts - even his own people did not recognise him.
As our scripture says:
He came to his own domain

And his own people did not accept him.

But to all who did accept him

He gave power to become children of God...

And that is what we are.
This week, we will see the Wise Men hurrying towards Bethlehem bearing their gifts ­ the best things they have to offerGold, Frankincense and Myrrh ­ the things they want to offer the new King for the building up of the Kingdom of Heaven. I ask you this week, to stop for a moment before a crib and say one
‘Our Father’. And for the space of that ‘Our Father’, ask the Lord to show you what gift you have to offer ­ what part you have to play - this year in building up His Kingdom here on Earth ­ a Kingdom that stands against all the Evil in the world ­ and this year stands against the evil of the Tsunami, the Hurricane and the Earthquake.

Happy New Year.

Let us stand and profess our Faith in the Happy New Year of Christ our Saviour.  

Mount Street Jesuit Centre,

114 Mount Street,

London SW1K 3AH.

ENGLAND.

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