Happy New Year!
This is the time traditionally we
make resolutions to be a better person. We aim to outdo ourselves this year to
the next. But as always, at the end of each year, we will find ourselves in the
same situation. We gained more inches
and weight, debts increased and we are no better than last year.
New year is supposed to give us
new hope and I believe that our focus has been misguided so we end up most of
the time not doing well with our “resolutions.”
In the Church Tradition, the real
“new year” begins with First Vespers of the First Sunday of Advent. Advent is
the Church’s meditation on the two coming of Christ – first, His coming in the
flesh at Christmas, and second is His coming in glory which establishes his
reign as the Lord of History.
The missal offers a helpful
reminder of this fuller dimension of the mystery of the Incarnation in one of
its auxiliary prefaces for Advent:“You have hidden from us the day and hour in which Christ your Son, the Lord and judge of history, will appear upon the clouds of heaven clothed in power and splendor; on that great and glorious day, the present world will pass away, and new heavens and a new earth will arise. Now, Christ comes to meet us in every man and in every time, so that we may accompany him in faith and bear witness in love to the blessed hope of his reign.
And so, anticipating his final advent, together with the angels and saints we sing as one the hymn of your glory…”
Now that’s something worth considering even as we celebrate the “civil” new year. Maybe this time we focus on what is really essential, i.e., transformation than resolution. This new year, it might be better not wait but to actively come and meet Him. Maybe it is better for us to resolve to come and receive frequently the sacraments, especially the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation where we can find Him and dwell in His presence all year long. Then let me know at the end of the year how it goes.
Have a blessed New Year to all!
