As one year ends, another begins... in prayer

As we approach the end of the calendar year, I offer you this prayer
with the hope these words might help us walk gracefully into 2011...

Good Lord,
it is the last day of 2010...

Only a few hours left in this old year
which seemed so new,
oh, not-so-long ago...

Where has the old year gone, Lord?
How did it go?

And how did I go with you, Lord,
these past twelve months?

I remember the times
we walked and talked together,
you and I...

And I remember the times
when I forgot, somehow,
that you were right there by my side...

I remember the times when you took delight
in my words and my work
and I remember the times I ignored and forgot you
- and still you loved me
and forgave me...

Nothing I have done, Lord,
merits all you have given me:
your love is grace and pure gift...

In return I offer so little
and I have so little to offer...

But there comes a new year, Lord,
and with it my prayer
to live a life more worthy
of all you so freely give me...

In this new year, Lord,
make strong my resolve to be faithful,
make deep my trust in your presence
and make sure my hope in your promise,
for without your help
I will fail...

Lord, you offer me only
what is true and pure,
good and just, strong and graced...

In this new year, help me to recognize
what is false, cheap and sham...
 
Help me to settle for nothing less
than what comes from your heart and hand...

Nourish me, Lord:
give me a hunger for what is genuine,
a thirst for what is holy,
a wisdom for discerning your gifts...

It is the last night of the old year, Lord...

Shake from my heart what has no place there
and wake my heart
to the gift of your grace
at the dawn of a new beginning...

Amen.



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Just in time for making New Year's resolutions!

H/T to Deacon Greg at his Bench for linking to James Martin's piece at the Huffington Post. Lots of wisdom here whether you're planning on making New Year's resolutions or not.

For a lark yesterday, on my 50th birthday, I Tweeted 12 things that I wish I had known at 25. Or more accurately, 12 things that, had I put them into action, would have made my life a lot easier. Some are bits of advice that wisdom figures have told me and took years to sink in. Others are the result of some hard knocks. A few are insights from the great spiritual masters that I've adapted for my own life. Maybe a few will help someone you know who's 25. Maybe one or two will help you.

1. First up: Stop worrying so much! It's useless. (I.e. Jesus was right.)

2. Being a saint means being yourself. Stop trying to be someone else and just be your best self. Saves you heartache.

3. There's no right way to pray, any more than there's a right way to be a friend. What's "best" is what works best for you.

4. Remember three things and save yourself lots of unneeded heartache: You're not God. This ain't heaven. Don't act like a jerk.

5. Your deepest, most heartfelt desires are God's desires for you. And vice versa. Listen. And follow them.

6. Within you is the idea of your best self. Act as if you were that person and you will become that person, with God's grace.

7. Don't worry too much about the worst that can happen. Even if it happens, God is with you, and you can handle it. Really.

8. You can't force people to approve of you, agree with you, be impressed with you, love you or even like you. Stop trying.

9. When we compare, we are usually imagining someone else's life falsely. So our real-life loses out. I.e. Compare and despair.

10. Even when you finally realized the right thing, or the Christian thing, to do, it can still be hard to do. Do it anyway.

11. Seven things to say frequently: I love you. Thank you. Thank you, God. Forgive me. I'm so happy for you! Why not? Yes.

12. Peace and joy come after asking God to free you -- from anything that keeps you from being loving and compassionate.

 
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January 1 on the Church calendar

This icon by Aidan Hart is titled, The Mother of God and Savior. Notice that although Jesus is imaged as as a child, his muscularity and strength are beyond his years. At the same time, Mary is rendered as great, indeed "large enough" to be the Mother of God. A similar shift in proportion is at work in the familiar Pieta where the figure of Mary is much larger than the Christ she holds in her lap. (Click on the image for a larger version.)

January 1 is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God on the liturgical calendar. On the civil calendar it is New Year's Day. It is also the World Day of Peace and the 2011 edition of the pope's annual message for this occasion can be found here.

The scriptures for this day are, I believe, the shortest lections of the whole liturgical year. You can find them here.

Neil, a regular contributor to Todd's blog, Catholic Sensibility, has a fine post on the gospel for January 1.

 
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A New Year's Blessing for all who visit here...

 
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The new year comes just one day at a time...

H/T to FB friend, JMcG, for posting this quote from a wise man:

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time."

~ Abraham Lincoln

Since the healthiest way to live is to live one day at a time, Lincoln's words are, indeed, good advice!

And it's something worth keeping in our minds and hearts as we look toward a new year stretching ahead of us.

Remember: 2011 is only going to come to us one day at a time...

Or, as Jesus put it:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?

Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? 
Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin.

But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.

If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?

So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?'

All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

-Matthew 6:25-34

 
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Happy New Year!

I hope and pray that the New Year we have just entered will be filled with peace for you and those you love. 

I pray that the New Year will unite us in the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus. 

And I pray that 2012 will find us growing together in holiness, health and happiness!

Happy New Year!



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New Year's resolutions

Although my Morning Offering for Monday of this week was ready to go, I forgot, in the Christmas rush, to hit "publish" and get it up on the page here!

H/T to JD for pointing out its absence to me on Monday afternoon!

I thought it might be helpful to publish it again, closer to New Year's Day, for those who might be considering making resolutions.

Good morning, good God!

New Year's Eve comes this week

and it's time to make some resolutions...

No one knows better than you, Lord,

how my track record

for keeping resolutions I’ve made in the past,

at New Year’s and on Ash Wednesdays

and all those other times

when I resolved to do this or that,

or to stop doing such and such

- and then just a few days later…

You know how that usually goes, Lord,

so this morning I offer,

I place the new year

all in your hands...

I offer you this new year, Lord,

trusting that you plan on adding

another year to my life…

I offer you my heart for this year ahead

and pray that you soften my heart where it's stony,

that you smooth its rough edges

and heal its brokenness –

not so much for my sake –

but for those who will count on my heart

and its love

in 2011...

I offer you my mind and my will in this new year, Lord,

and pray that you help me sort through

my doubts and my questions,

my confusion and lack of trust...

I ask that you hone my mind with your truth,

that you expand my thinking where it narrows

and open me to learn what I need to know...

I offer you my body in this year ahead, Lord:

help me respect and care for the flesh and bone

that give form to my soul:

get me out of bed, off the couch and up from the chair

and move, shake, walk and strengthen

me and my mortal frame

for the work you give me to do…

And I offer you my spirit, Lord, my soul:

give me the courage and perseverance I need

to walk each day with you, my hand in yours,

your arm 'round my shoulder, guiding my way...

I offer you my time in 2011, Lord:

teach me not to waste this precious gift:

fill my days with energy

and the will to live by your word

and work for your glory;

fill my nights with deep and restful sleep

and prepare me for what you would make of my life

in the next twelve months...

I offer you my imagination in the new year, Lord:

make my thoughts pure, my dreams sweet,

my intentions just, my ideas honest, my plans firm,

my goals true, my hopes rooted in your promises…

In the new year, Lord,

I lift up to you those you’ve entrusted to my heart:

anyone who looks to me and leans on me

for support and care and hope...

Make me faithful to those who depend on me, Lord,

but not so strong

that I fail to depend and lean on others

who offer me support and strength…

I offer you my bounty in the year ahead, Lord:

help me know the difference

between what I desire and what I truly need;

teach me to share what I have,

especially when I have more than I need;

teach me to see others’ needs before my own

and to care for them before I care for myself…

I offer you, Lord, the challenges of the year ahead:

give me the wisdom and strength I'll need

to face and work through them...

And I offer you the burdens and sorrows

the new year will bring:

give me strength to carry them

and consolation as I bear with them...

I offer you the joys of the new year, Lord:

let me not miss one of them,

let me delight in each of them

and let me share them with others...

I offer you the year ahead, Lord,

with its months as 12 new chapters

in the book of my life:

help me see the story of your love

in the days of each month;

show me the clues that resolve the mysteries

that confuse and baffle me;

let me see how these new chapters

follow from what has been

and lead to what is yet to come...

Be the Author of the chapters of my life, Lord,

and let your words and your story

shape the person you created me to be…

I offer you the new year, Lord,

and pray that I will come to its end

in your peace

and in the embrace of your arms…

Amen.

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