We attended the New Year’s Eve Mass at the Our Lady of La Salette Quasi-Parish, a quiet and meaningful way to close the year before returning home to prepare for the traditional media noche. The quasi-parish, established in 2021 under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos, stands in Barangay Muzon, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

The parish’s dedication to Our Lady of La Salette shaped the tone of the liturgy. The story of this Marian devotion traces back to September 19, 1846, in the French Alpine village of La Salette, where the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to two shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud. According to their account, Mary appeared seated and weeping, expressing sorrow over humanity’s turning away from God. Her message was a call to conversion, prayer, respect for the Lord’s Day, and renewed faithfulness—firm in content, yet deeply maternal in spirit.

In the homily, the central message was clear and resonant: before asking God for new blessings in the coming year, we are first called to give thanks for what has already been received. The reflection invited the congregation to recognize God’s presence not only in moments of joy, but also in struggles, delays, and unanswered prayers that nonetheless shaped the past year.