Solemnity of Mary
Holy Mother of God
1 January
MadonnaBambino0
Mary, Mother of God
Reflections from St Charles Borromeo
At the beginning of the year, the Church places before us Mary, the Holy Mother of God, not as an abstract ideal, but as a living model of faith. For Charles Borromeo, devotion to Mary was never sentimental. It was practical, demanding, and deeply rooted in humility and obedience to God.
St Charles frequently reminded the faithful that Mary’s greatness lay not in privilege, but in her response to God’s call. “She was more blessed in receiving the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ,” he taught, echoing the Church’s ancient wisdom. Mary’s faith came first; her motherhood flowed from it.
For St Charles, Mary was the pattern for the Church itself — attentive to God’s word, willing to serve, and faithful even when the path was unclear. He urged Christians to look to her example at the start of every undertaking, and especially at moments of transition. “Place yourself under her protection,” he wrote, “and learn from her how to listen, how to trust, and how to persevere.”
As we begin a new year at St Charles Borromeo, this feast invites us to do exactly that. Mary does not promise certainty or ease. She teaches us how to carry Christ into the ordinary circumstances of life — into our homes, our work, our parish, and our struggles.
St Charles insisted that true devotion to Mary must always lead us closer to Christ. “She leads us not to herself,” he wrote, “but to her Son.” On this feast, we entrust the year ahead to her care, asking not for control, but for the grace to remain faithful.
May Mary, the Mother of God, watch over our parish, and may her quiet courage shape our lives in the year to come.
Beginning the New Year under God’s blessing at St Charles Borromeo
As the calendar turns and a new year begins, the Catholic Church does something quietly counter-cultural. While the world rushes towards resolutions, targets, and fresh starts, the Church pauses. On New Year’s Day, she places us not before a list of ambitions, but before a person — Mary, the Mother of God.
This feast is not an afterthought or a sentimental addition to the season of Christmas. It is deliberate and deeply theological. The Church begins the civil year by reminding us that time itself has been entered, blessed, and redeemed by God. The eternal Word did not hover above history; He entered it. He was born of a woman. And so the year begins with Mary.
Sung and played by Edyta Prajsnar
Music Director: Saint Charles Borromeo Church. Kingston upon Hull
God enters time — and stays within it
The title Mother of God affirms the heart of the Christian faith: that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human. Mary did not give birth to an idea or a symbol; she gave birth to a person — God made flesh. By celebrating this truth on 1 January, the Church proclaims that every year, every day, and every moment now belongs to God.
This matters deeply as we stand at the threshold of a new year. Many people approach this moment with mixed emotions. For some, it brings hope and anticipation. For others, it brings anxiety, regret, or weariness. The Church does not dismiss those feelings. Instead, she responds with blessing.
Mary does not begin the year by demanding answers. Scripture tells us that she pondered these things in her heart. She trusted before she understood. In placing Mary before us at the start of the year, the Church offers us a way forward that is rooted not in control, but in faith.
A New Year shaped by blessing, not pressure
The first reading for this feast often recalls the ancient blessing given to God’s people:
“The Lord bless you and keep you.”
This is how the Church begins the year — with blessing, not burden.
At St Charles Borromeo, this speaks gently but clearly into parish life. Our community is made up of people at very different stages of the journey. Some carry joy into the year ahead; others carry grief, illness, uncertainty, or quiet disappointment. The feast of Mary, Mother of God, makes room for all of this. It does not ask us to reinvent ourselves. It asks us to entrust ourselves.
Mary stands at the beginning of the year as she stood at the beginning of Christ’s life — faithful, receptive, and present. She reminds us that God’s work unfolds slowly and often invisibly, and that trust is sometimes the holiest response we can offer.
The parish as a place of trust and belonging
A parish, like a family, carries memory. It holds baptisms and funerals, celebrations and sorrows, moments of growth and seasons of decline. As a community gathered under the patronage of Charles Borromeo, St Charles has long been a place where faith is lived patiently rather than performed loudly.
St Charles Borromeo served the Church during a time of upheaval and uncertainty. His response was not to seek prominence, but to reform quietly and pastorally — through teaching, care for clergy and laity, and attention to the real needs of people. His legacy reminds us that renewal comes through fidelity, not fashion.
As we enter a new year, the parish continues this same work: welcoming, worshipping, listening, and remaining open. Like Mary, we are called not to rush ahead, but to remain attentive to God’s presence among us.
A word for those who feel uncertain
For anyone beginning the year with unanswered questions, this feast offers reassurance. Mary did not know the full path that lay ahead. She knew joy, but she also knew sorrow. She trusted God through both. That trust did not remove difficulty, but it gave her the strength to remain faithful.
At the start of the year, the Church does not promise ease. It promises presence. God walks with us into the unknown. Mary reminds us that faith does not require certainty — only openness.
This is a message worth holding onto as the weeks unfold: we are not asked to manage the future alone. We begin the year under God’s blessing, within the care of the Church, and surrounded by a community of faith.
Carrying Christmas forward
New Year’s Day does not close the Christmas story. It deepens it. The child born in Bethlehem is now named and recognised as God among us. The woman who carried Him is honoured for her faith and obedience. The mystery of Christmas stretches forward into ordinary time.
At St Charles Borromeo, this invites us to carry the light of Christmas into the year ahead — not as nostalgia, but as lived faith. In prayer, in service, in kindness, and in perseverance, the Incarnation continues to bear fruit.
Beginning the year together
As this new year begins, we do so not as isolated individuals, but as a parish family. Gathered in prayer, shaped by tradition, and guided by the wisdom of the Church, we step forward together.
May Mary, the Mother of God, watch over our parish and all who enter its doors. May she teach us how to trust, how to listen, and how to remain faithful. And may the year ahead be marked not by anxiety or haste, but by God’s blessing, quietly unfolding among us — here at St Charles Borromeo.