Tahsas 21 — December 30

A Feast for Our Lady Mary

Today is a big, happy feast day, set aside to remember and praise Our Lady, the Virgin Mary. We call her the God-bearer, because she is the mother of Jesus, who is God. No person has ever been given a greater gift.

In Ethiopia, people love Mary very much. On a day like this they sing songs to her, called salutations. A salutation is a sweet hello, a way of saying, "We love you, and thank you!" We thank God for choosing Mary, and we ask her to pray for us.

There is a beautiful old story that on this day Mary showed her love in a tender way. A holy man named Isaac was praying near a picture of Mary, called an icon, a holy painting that helps us remember someone we love. The story says Mary came to comfort him right there from her icon, like a kind mother cheering up her child. It reminds us that Mary and her Son Jesus are always close to us when we pray.

Mary teaches us to say yes to God with a happy heart, just as she did. When we love God and trust Him, good things grow in us, like flowers in spring.

Hail to Mary, in whom new life grew without rain and without water — a gift straight from God.— a salutation to Mary

Saint Barnabas, the Son of Comfort

Today we also remember a brave helper of Jesus named Barnabas. He was an apostle, one of Jesus' close helpers who went out to teach about Him. His first name was Joseph, but his friends gave him the name Barnabas, which means "son of comfort," because he was so kind and made sad people feel better.

Barnabas had a generous heart. He owned a beautiful garden, but he sold it and gave all the money to help the church and people in need. He loved sharing more than he loved having things.

When a man named Paul first became a follower of Jesus, some people were afraid of him and did not believe he had truly changed. But kind Barnabas trusted Paul. He took him by the hand, brought him to the other apostles, and told them, "It's true. Jesus really did speak to Paul!" Because of Barnabas, Paul was welcomed, and the two of them became a fine team, traveling to many cities together to tell everyone the good news about Jesus.

Once, in a city called Lystra, people saw what God did through Paul and Barnabas, and they thought the two men must be gods. They wanted to bring them special gifts. But Barnabas and Paul quickly said, "No, no, we are just people like you! It is God who is great, not us." They were humble, and they wanted everyone to praise God alone.

Later Barnabas sailed home to the island of Cyprus with his friend Mark. There many people came to love Jesus and were baptized. Some men were unkind to Barnabas because he would not stop teaching, and he died as a martyr, faithful to God right to the very end. But he was not afraid, for he knew he was going home to God. God kept his friend Mark safe, and Mark went on to teach in the great city of Alexandria. We say a happy salutation to Barnabas and to Mark!

We are just people like you! It is God who is great.— Barnabas and Paul in Lystra