Mary said, ” Behold the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word.”         – Lk 1:38

Reflection. Mary, the Mother of the Church, is also called the Cause of our Joy.  Pope John Paul II explains why:  “Christ came to bring joy:  joy to children, joy to parents, joy to families and friends, joy to workers, and to scholars, joy to the sick and elderly, joy to all humanity.  In a true sense joy is the keynote message and the recurring motif of the Gospels … Be messengers of joy.”

Prayer. Lord Jesus, teach me to be joyful on this, the first day of the year, and on all the days of my life.