January 2012
Dear St. Michael’s Family:
The beginning of every New Year finds many people making resolutions to improve their lives. Some people make a resolution to strengthen their financial or professional standing. Others resolve to lose weight or stop a bad habit. And there are many people who express the desire to improve their relationships with their families or coworkers, to help the needy, or to pursue some other lofty goal in life. But, while such resolutions are made with conviction, usually within a few weeks such resolutions are broken or forgotten. Life returns to “normal,” to the “status quo.” During the subsequent months, little attention is paid to broken resolutions which, by the end of the year, have been thoroughly forgotten.
As Christians, the New Year event gives us all the opportunity to resolve to live according to God’s will and the example we have been given by Our Lord, Jesus Christ. This resolution is not restricted to the beginning of a new year, but faces us every day of our lives and we are continually challenged to embrace change by growing stronger in our faith, by participating more regularly in the life of the Church, and by reaching out to others with compassion and love. As we begin every new day, we pray that our repentance (turning around) will bring us into a more intense relationship with God, with others, and even with ourselves, seeking to accomplish not our own wills, but the will of God.
The beginning of the new year offers us an opportunity to make a resolution that matters, that transcends the goals inherent in so many “new year’s resolutions” and offers us a foretaste of the very Kingdom of God that, while yet to be fully revealed, is already fully present. It affords us an opportunity to pursue a new beginning, to transform our commitment and words into conviction and action.
We are blessed by God with the beginning of a new year. In thanksgiving, let us make our resolution one of repentance and interior change, aimed at “the one thing needful” – pursuing our lives in accordance with the will of God and the example of our Savior. Let us “lay aside all earth cares” – and “resolutions” – replacing them with a firm commitment to seek renewal in the Lord. Let us resolve to remain vigilant in fulfilling this resolution, especially in times of temptation or distress. Remember, the Lord is quick to hear our prayers. He is with us at every moment and in every circumstance, giving us the resolve to grow in and with Him now and in the days to come.
“Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for St. Michael’s Parish family. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” BCP 817
Blessings,
Lee+
