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Message from our Administrator
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January 1, 2023My beloved sisters and brothers in Christ, I wish you all a very blessed and Happy New Year. How quickly we remove the signs and symbols of Christmas and, unfortunately, sometimes also pack away the good cheer and goodwill of that season!
In our Christmas edition, I wrote that "the best Christmas gift we can receive and give, which is Christ's gift to us, is his peace." In the quiet and dark January evenings, I invite you to reflect on that gift and pray about how you will, with God's grace, continue to give and receive his peace to others in the year ahead.
As people who accept Christ in our lives, we are called to witness his peace every day, in spite of all the distractions of our times! As I have said many times, we do this by prayerfully trying to see Christ in every other person we encounter, and, if that is not possible, in some situations, then to allow them to see Christ in us.
We do this by being truly Christian in all aspects of our daily lives; a task which is not at all easy to accomplish in our divided and harsh world, filled with noise and argument, which drowns out the voice of God and silences the Spirit within us!
To begin then, look at your Christmas presents and especially any cards you received and read again the messages on them! All that positive goodwill is now yours to share! Did you send cards or Christmas messages? Then continue to think the positive thoughts you offered to your family and friends!
Above all, each new year is an invitation from almighty God to be thankful that we have completed another chapter in life and opened a new one! In this time of Eucharistic Revival, find time to visit Jesus in your local church between Sundays, even for a fleeting moment. Make a resolution to renew your commitment to Sunday Mass as a public witness to your faith and your desire to radiate Christ's peace all week! If we take the year a week at a time it becomes easy to create a new lifestyle pattern with Christ as center. It is well worth a try, believe me! Other little ways to focus on Christ include praying a rosary (even a decade would be great), or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy daily. If you have children, or grandchildren who visit, a short prayer before meals, or the simple prayer before bedtime reminds all present that Jesus is watching over us at all times! I recommend a simple prayer which children memorize with ease: "Jesus, I love you; thank you, Jesus, for loving me."
These simple resolutions can make a major difference as to how we live out our daily lives.
In a nutshell, the best New Year’s resolution that you can make is to open your Bible daily, and open your heart weekly, to hear and receive the Word made flesh, to nourish your soul and guide you along the way. After all Jesus himself told us: "I am the way, the truth and the life." Is there anything more we can ask for? As you begin this year of Eucharistic Revival, I pray you will reawaken in your heart a love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and make a special effort to come and feed on his Word and Body at Sunday Mass. I offer you, again, in closing, the prayer of St Thomas Aquinas as an inspiration:
"O sacred banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of his passion is celebrated, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us. Lord Jesus, present to us in the Eucharist, we place our trust in you; make us signs of your presence."
May the Peace of Christ reign in your hearts and minds throughout the year 2023 and let us all pray that his peace will enter the hearts of all world leaders, to end wars and deprivation, and open us up to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Happy New Year! God bless.