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Commentary on the Gospel for Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Blessing
In Hispanic cultures, as it once was throughout much of the Catholic Spanish and European world, there is a custom where parents bless their children before they leave the house, start a task, or at the end of the day. Some spouses also bless each other at the start of the day. A blessing is about speaking well, offering a good word, invoking God’s protection over the day. It’s asking for the face of God—His glory—to shine upon us throughout life. That blessing brings peace.
It is the same blessing that the Spirit of God bestows upon us, making us children of God. And if we are His children, then we are heirs of His glory, of all the blessings from the light of God’s face. The shepherds went out proclaiming the glorious message they had heard.
A logical consequence is that if we are children of God, we are also children of Mary—the one who keeps all these things in her heart, the gateway to salvation, to peace, and to adoption as God’s children. In ancient times, adoption was a significant legal bond, sometimes even granting the adopted child primacy in rights. Being adopted as children of God, then, gives us not only rights but also an inescapable vocation to proclaim the Father and behave as children in the Son. Being children obligates us to be siblings, which means a commitment to peace. Siblings live in peace and seek peace.
Today, we celebrate the World Day of Peace. Yet, when we look around, we might see more war than peace. We see armed conflicts, domestic violence, and even battles within ourselves. On a daily level, we might notice how small irritations become temptations toward violent thoughts or words. These can lead to brief or prolonged anger, potentially resulting in division.
To be children of God, children of Mary—the Mother of God—means asking for her gentle protection and her guidance to create peace in both small and large moments. It means being a blessing to one another: sharing good words, the “good diction” of God’s glory, which recognizes and praises. It means invoking God’s protection over everyone.