NEW YEAR – NEW HOPE
At the Annunciation, Mary questioned the Angel Gabriel about how she, who had “not known man,” could become a mother. Gabriel’s answer was that “nothing is impossible for God.” It was true for Mary and it is true for each of us.
As the old year ends, we witness many of the same personal and world wide struggles – wars, persecution, drug abuse, fractured families, poverty, and the list goes on. If nothing is impossible for God, then that means any or all of the problems mentioned can change.
Realistically, human nature being what it is, we will probably not see an end to the struggles of mankind in this kingdom – but now we begin a new year, we travel down a new road, and we have God’s promise of never ending hope. He has promised to always be there, to walk down the new road with us, to uphold us when we need to be upheld, to forgive us when we need His mercy, and to constantly show us ways to be made new again. St. Teresa of Calcutta tells us to “set aside a time each day to silence our hearts;” it is in this silence that we hear God’s plan for us, the plan that will make us new again. We need to be reminded that Light was born on Christmas, and we are called to be a reflection of that light. The more we strive to be light for others, the less we focus on ourselves and the darkness around us and in our world.
In Romans 15:4, St. Paul tells us that everything written in the Scriptures was written that we might have hope – for example, the message in Lamentations 22-23 is that the Lords compassion for us never fails, His mercies are new every morning. You can reaffirm these messages of hope by taking the time to read some of them. Share them with your family or read them in the silence, they will definitely be a guide for those first steps about to be taken on this year’s new road. Here are some suggestions:
Isaiah 40:30-31
Jeremiah 29:11
Proverbs 23:18
1 Peter 1:3
Submitted by Marguerite Mullins