Here is the full text of Pope Francis’s homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
“Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Lk 2:19). In these words, Luke describes the attitude with which Mary took in all that they had experienced in those days. Far from trying to understand or master the situation, Mary is the woman who can treasure, that is to say, protect and guard in her heart, the passage of God in the life of his people. Deep within, she had learned to listen to the heartbeat of her Son, and that in turn taught her, throughout her life, to discover God’s heartbeat in history. She learned how to be a mother, and in that learning process she gave Jesus the beautiful experience of knowing what it is to be a Son. In Mary, the eternal Word not only became flesh, but also learned to recognize the maternal tenderness of God. With Mary, the God-Child learned to listen to the yearnings, the troubles, the joys and the hopes of the people of the promise. With Mary, he discovered himself a Son of God’s faithful people. Continue reading
Back in the day, I loved off-shore sailing. There was something adventurous and old-school about sailing out-of-sight of land with only a sextant, stars, a nautical almanac, a clear night to see the North Star, a navigation chart or two to guide you – and you were good to go. This was before the days of GPS, during the days of LORAN-C; but then it was the rare boat that had such exotic gear. Course, heading, speed, dead reckoning, and you were on your own. 
Unless you happen to be like my muse, Calvin, in the comic strip, I suspect you are about to make some New Year’s resolutions. How did you do on last year’s resolutions? About the same as the rest of us? One ad hominem wisdom saying defines “insanity” this way: to keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. Perhaps 2017 is a time to consider changing the way resolutions are considered, made, and hopefully, kept. 
I wasn’t too sure what to expect for my first Christmas in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Certainly, the slum in which I lived was devoid of any of the commercial excess. There were no malls, no black Friday, none of the things mark our Advent season. Occasionally, you could hear Christmas carols, traditional and tribal, float out of one of the wood sheds/tin roofed stores. But most the familiar signs and markers that Christmas was coming were missing. 
The days of Christmas are quickly approaching, your shopping isn’t finished (…. maybe not started!), the end-of-year activities at work are reaching deadlines, the tree is not up, the kids have a school Christmas play tomorrow night (… “Mom, is my costume ready?”…what costume?), the toy drive at the church is ready to wrap and deliver packages (I think we signed up to help as a family? …. maybe?), and…and… oh my gosh, the in-laws are coming to stay with us this Christmas. Even amidst the momentary panic of “how will all this get done,” there is an ever-present awareness that we want to be hospitable, warm, and welcoming – not only to the in-laws but to all who come to our door during the holidays. 
Now maybe you are thinking… “What so special about a picture of a single person in line at Starbucks?” If you look around you can see the mall decorated for Christmas. On a normal day the line at this Starbucks is “ginormous” stretching part way to St. Petersburg, in part, responsible for the backup on the Frankland bridge. But this is in the middle of the Christmas shopping season. It normally takes longer to get a cup of coffee here than to exit the parking lot at the Dale Mabry Target/Whole Foods/Home Depot complex.
May your final days of Advent be wonderful and blessed and maybe your Christmas be filled the light of Christ, Emmanuel, God with us!
“…Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18) And of course, we know the rest of the story… the angel comes and tells Joseph what is expected of him – to take Mary and the child into his home – to be husband and father. “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him” (Matthew 1:24). Great! Problem solved and now we can turn the page to Matthew 2 because in that chapter Jesus is born, the magi visit and we are all set for Christmas. 
friarmusings 