The New Testament reading for the Solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God (New Year’s Day) begins “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son. . .” The phrase “fullness of time” intrigues me. After millennia of creation, after multiple generations, God’s plan was “Now.” This instant. This person. This spot on the Earth. How infinitesimal. How grand. How humble. How magnificent. How full this moment in time.

No other moment will cause such a chain of events. No other person will be as graced and revered as Mary. No other point on earth can claim the human feet of God touched its soil. Everything, everyone was in readiness for a moment that was “the fullness of time.’”

Here we are on the first days of a new year. How will this year impact God’s mysterious plan? How will your home, place of work, town be the ground for God to walk? How will you be graced? Are you ready? Are you ready to make each 24-hour period of time a “fullness” for God?