New Beginnings in Christ

As this year draws to a close, I think of my sister’s December wedding and about how she is soon going to start her journey into married life with her fiance. Since their wedding is right around the corner, I think of new beginnings. Even if we are not getting married or are already married, we all experience the beginning of something new: the beginning of a new day.

With each sunrise, we all have some kind of purpose to fulfill on earth. Our job is to surrender our hearts to Jesus at the beginning of the day by giving Him all we have and all we are. We should offer up all we are going to do each day and by this, with each passing second, everything we do becomes a prayer. It is our duty to make it a fruitful prayer by giving our best efforts day in and day out. This is what God asks of us. It is even in Sacred Scripture.

If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy (Deuteronomy 30: 16). 

Even with the new year, different expectations arise. That is why we make resolutions. It is a good practice.

However, in order to do this properly we must truly appreciate the little time we have on earth. Each one of us has a purpose or a mission, yes, so we must stick to it. It is our moral obligation.

Ponder this beautiful Saint Gerard Majella quote on time and eternity:

Consider the shortness of time, the length of eternity and reflect how everything here below comes to an end and passes by. Of what use is it to lean upon that which cannot give support?

So when the clock strikes twelve, marking the beginning of the new year, think of Jesus. Think of His Holy Face. Think of His Precious Blood. Think of His Sacred Wounds. It is His most holy sacrifice which saves You. It is with His Sacred Hands He made you and has a place for you in His Most Sacred Heart and in His heavenly kingdom.

For the new year, I have written a prayer and I encourage you to say it this new year. Write it down and pray it with your whole heart. It will be a beautiful and memorable way to start the beginning of the year. The prayer is this.

Lord Jesus, bless this new year and make it your own. Instill the virtues of faith, hope, and charity in my heart and in the hearts of my loved ones. Draw us closer to You in the year with every act of mercy we show forth in the people we meet. Let us always see Your face among our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Kneeling before Your holy throne, I pray that You keep in our hearts, true devotion burning for God and His Holy Church that we may stay in the state of grace, receive You worthily in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, and every day make a step closer to Your heavenly kingdom. Amen.

And if you find yourself ever needing reassurance for this new year, here is a beautiful reminder from Jesus Christ Himself taken from Sacred Scripture.

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age (Matthew 28: 20)

I advise you to write this down as well. Keep it in your pocket when you need a little reminder that Jesus is always with You. He is that little baby in the manger you see set up during Christmas time, He is in the heart of all your loved ones and strangers you meet, but most of all, His true presence is found in the Most Holy Eucharist which you receive into your soul at Mass.

As for me, this new year I hope to become a better prayer warrior for Christ. I also have some writing goals where I hope with time, dedication, and effort I can become a better writer who not only captures the imagination but motivates the reader’s soul to more closely follow God’s will.

Let us begin the new year with our eyes set on Christ. Always remember, even if you have a bad day or days in the new year, there is always hope for a better tomorrow. That is why we must always trust in Jesus wholeheartedly because He knows our whole heart.

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope ( Jeremiah 29: 11).