THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. De La Rosa OP Many of us turn mad on New Year's Eve. We abandon our common sense and put our trust in astrologers, psychic gurus, and Feng Shui experts who pompously lecture on success and failure, life and death, and love and war. Blindly following their advice, we put lucky charms in our wallets, wear red clothes, fill our pockets with coins, collect peso bills bearing the number nine, adorn our tables with 12 round fruits, and make noise at midnight to drive away misfortunes. Others explode firecrackers or indulge in wanton eating and drinking. Is this not madness? The long history of civilization is marked by our conscious efforts at confining and curing crazy people. But as the philosopher Michel Foucault writes, what we have achieved is the opposite. Since we cannot totally eliminate madness, what we do is hide it. The trouble is, when it crawls out of our subconscious, it assumes frightening and deadly forms. Worse, it often wears the mask of rationality. Is it not hilarious to think that the whole year is but one prolonged New Year’s Eve? Is our well-ordered rhythm of work-rest-work not another form of madness? That is why the Church does not encourage us to join the noisy revelry on New Year's Eve. One week after Christmas, we celebrate the motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our gospel reading today repeats the narrative of the birth of Jesus with emphasis on the presence of the shepherds. "When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them"(Luke 2:17-18). The nativity narratives mention many personalities who were present at the birth of Jesus, like the shepherds, the magi, and St. Joseph, but all of them disappear after their presence is acknowledged. Only Mary is mentioned in many succeeding events in the life of Jesus. This is because her motherhood does not merely consist in giving birth to Him. It covers almost all aspects of His life. She is even present as a grieving mother at the foot of the Cross and a prayerful disciple on whom the Holy Spirit descends on Pentecost day. The Church presents Mary as someone whom we must emulate as we venture into the new year. Today's gospel reading describes her as someone "who kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart" (Luke 2:18). Like Mary we must gratefully treasure in our hearts the ordinary miracles and the bountiful blessings that we have received during the past year. And let us welcome the new year like Mary, who lived in faith, hope, and patience. In faith, because by firmly declaring, "Your will be done to me according to your word," she unquestioningly accepts what the future holds for her. She entrusts herself to Him who holds the future. In hope, because she sees her life as a pilgrimage, so she need not outlast time or outwit it. She only has to use every moment to make the journey worthwhile. And in patience, because she knows she is powerless to control everything. She does not need to harbor exaggerated hopes, bloated dreams, and morbid fears about the future. Like Mary, let us trust God who brings everything to a joyful completion in His time.