On this New Year’s Day Fr Paul Gooley wishes everyone a happy and blessed New Year before reading today’s Gospel from of Luke (2: 16-21) in which Mary ponders and treasures the amazing events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Today we also celebrate the life of Mary the Holy Mother of God and after the Gospel, Fr Paul shares a little about this solemnity. Fr Paul notes that way back in 431, there was a bitter controversy among theologians over the role of Mary in the Catholic Church. They debated the question: Who is Mary in God’s plan? In the end, the bishops declared that Mary is really the mother of Jesus and Jesus is really God. So, it must be said that Mary is the Mother of God. The oldest Christian greeting of Mary was proclaimed when Mary’s relative Elizabeth called her “the Mother of my Lord.” She did this when Mary was welcomed by Elizabeth because she recognized both the great privilege God had given Mary and Mary’s great faith in accepting it. For centuries, Mary has been praised because she believed. She is Mother of God because of her faith in God. This solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, celebrates Mary’s faith and trust in God alone. Today, our challenge that Fr Paul invites us to reflect on is that the Church wants us to imitate her faith. On this day, we to ask, ‘Mary, Mother of God…pray for us!’.