Enjoy this excerpt from "In Conversation with God", my favorite way to start each day. It is written by Francis Fernandez.
"But what do most people mean by Happy New Year? Doubtless they mean a year free from illness, pain, trouble or worry; that instead, everyone may smile on you, that you flourish, that you make plenty of money, that the taxman doesn't get you, that you get a rise in salary, that prices fall, and that the news is good every morning. In short, that nothing unpleasant may happen to you. (G. Chevrot, Eight Beatitudes)
It is good to wish these material good things for ourselves and other so long as they do not make us veer away from our final goal. The new year will bring us our share of happiness and our share of trouble, and we don't know how much of each. A good year for a Christian is one in which both joys and sorrows have helped him to love God a little more. It is not a year that comes, supposing if were possible, full of natural happiness that leaves God to one side. A good year is one in which we have served God and our neighbour better, even if, on the human plane, it has been a complete disaster. For example, a good year could be one in which we are attacked by a serious illness taht has been latent and unsuspected for many years, provided we know how to use it for our sanctification and that of those close to us.
Any year can be the best year if we make use of the graces that God keeps in store for us and which can turn to good the greatest misfortunes.
For the year just beginning God has prepared all the help we need to make it a good year. So let's not waste even a single day. And when we happen to commit sin, or fall into error or discouragement, let us immediatley begin again, in many cases through the sacrament of Penance.
May we all have a good year, so that when it is over we can come before God with our hands full of hours of work offered to him, apostolate with our friends, innumerable acts of charity with those around us, many little victories over our self-love, and unforgetable meetings with Our Lord in Holy Communion.
Let us resolve to convert our defeats into victories, each time turning to God and starting once again.
And, finally, let us ask Our Lady for the grace to live during this new year with a fighting spirit, as if it were the last that God was going to give us."
It is good to wish these material good things for ourselves and other so long as they do not make us veer away from our final goal. The new year will bring us our share of happiness and our share of trouble, and we don't know how much of each. A good year for a Christian is one in which both joys and sorrows have helped him to love God a little more. It is not a year that comes, supposing if were possible, full of natural happiness that leaves God to one side. A good year is one in which we have served God and our neighbour better, even if, on the human plane, it has been a complete disaster. For example, a good year could be one in which we are attacked by a serious illness taht has been latent and unsuspected for many years, provided we know how to use it for our sanctification and that of those close to us.
Any year can be the best year if we make use of the graces that God keeps in store for us and which can turn to good the greatest misfortunes.
For the year just beginning God has prepared all the help we need to make it a good year. So let's not waste even a single day. And when we happen to commit sin, or fall into error or discouragement, let us immediatley begin again, in many cases through the sacrament of Penance.
May we all have a good year, so that when it is over we can come before God with our hands full of hours of work offered to him, apostolate with our friends, innumerable acts of charity with those around us, many little victories over our self-love, and unforgetable meetings with Our Lord in Holy Communion.
Let us resolve to convert our defeats into victories, each time turning to God and starting once again.
And, finally, let us ask Our Lady for the grace to live during this new year with a fighting spirit, as if it were the last that God was going to give us."
On that note, I wish you all not just a Happy New Year, but a good year as well.
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