Gospel (Lk 2,16-21) - At that time, they went without delay and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. And when they had seen him, they reported what they had been told about the child. All those who heard were amazed at the things the shepherds told them. Mary, for her part, kept all these things, meditating on them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, as they had been told. When the eight days prescribed for circumcision were completed, he was given the name Jesus, as he had been called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The liturgy invites us to look at Mary to celebrate and venerate her as the Mother of God. Seven days have passed since Christmas. And the Church, with this celebration, wants us all to look at the mother of that child. Of course - and it is good to underline this - we do not find her alone: Mary has Jesus in her arms. The shepherds, the Gospel writes, as soon as they arrived in Bethlehem "found Mary and Joseph and the child". It is beautiful to imagine baby Jesus no longer in the feeding trough but in Mary's arms. It is among the most familiar and tender images of the mystery of the incarnation. In the tradition of the Eastern Church the relationship between that mother and that son is so strong that an image of Mary without Jesus is never found; she exists for that child, her job is to generate him and show him to the world. The shepherds who arrived at the cave saw a child. And, «after having seen him – we could say, after contemplating him –, they reported what they had been told about the child». The entire life of the Christian is contained in this statement. If on the previous night it was the angels who spoke to them about the child, it is not difficult to think that it was Mary who spoke to the shepherds about her Son in the cave. She certainly introduced him to him. Without her they would hardly have been able to understand that mystery. Mary, who "kept all these things in her heart", knew well what mystery was present in that child. We too, like those shepherds, must return to our daily lives glorifying and praising God. It is now a beautiful and very useful tradition that on the first day of the year the Church gathers in prayer to invoke peace. It is like extending to the entire world, to the family of peoples, the blessing that is heard from the book of Numbers: "May the Lord turn his face towards you and grant you peace". There is a need for the Lord to broaden his gaze to the peoples of the earth. At the beginning of this year we must gather the song of the angels on the night of Christmas: "On earth peace to men, whom he loves". It is our prayer and our song for this beginning of the new year. May the Spirit of the Lord descend into the hearts of men, melt their hardness; transform the hearts of our cities and remove hatred, oppression and indifference from them; change the hearts of peoples at war so that violent spirits are disarmed and peacemakers are strengthened; transform the heart of every man and every woman so that the face of the one God, father of all, may be rediscovered.