A New Year’s Day Manifesto
Introduction
In
search of a feast
New Year’s Day is the octave day of
Christmas--the eighth day since the Lord was born on the 25th. On
the eighth day after a Jewish male was born, the infant was circumcised. Today’s short gospel concludes, “When eight days were completed
for his circumcision, he was named Jesus”( Lk
2:21) In the old Latin missal, the 1st
of January was entitled, In Circumcisione Domini--Feast
of the Circumcision of the Lord. After Vatican II it is simply called “The
Octave Day of Christmas,” or it is subtitled “The Solemnity of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, Mother of God.” Thrown into the mix is also a liturgical directive
which says the 1st of January may also be celebrated as a World
Peace Day.
So there you
have it: A) Feast of the Lord’s Circumcision.
B) The Octave Day of Christmas. C) The Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, Mother of God. D) A World Peace Day. You get the impression that
liturgically we’re not quite sure what today’s feast is. In fact, the clergy
often say among themselves that 1st of January is a holy day in search of a feast to
celebrate.
There is a
simple solution to such an earth-shattering problem—a solution which appeals to
ordinary people. Everybody out there calls the 1st of January New
Year’s Day. Why don’t we do the same? At
The first
reading from the book of Numbers seems to be a blessing on the new year before
us. It seems to say, “The Lord bless this year and keep it. The Lord let his
face shine upon this year, and be gracious to it. The Lord look kindly upon
this year and give it peace” (Num
A New Year’s Manifesto
Every now and
then I receive a gem, a pearl of great price, in my e-mail box. When I do I
immediately put it into safe keeping in my security box titled “Favorites.” One
such e-mail is entitled “Interview with God.” It is a very well-done ensemble
of picturesque scenery, catchy melody and especially of very power-packed
thought. I’ve been waiting for the right
time to share its words with you. Today seems a good time. It’s a kind of ”Manifesto for New Year’s Day.” It goes like this:
I dreamed I asked God for an interview, and God
granted it. “Oh so you would like to interview me,” he asked? Though I knew
better, I replied, “If you have the time.” God smiled and said, “My time is
eternity.” Then God asked me, “What do you have in mind?” I asked God, “Tell me, what surprises you
most about us human beings?” And God paused a moment and then replied;
ü
“This
is what surprises me: that you get bored with childhood, you want the years to
rush by so you can grow up, and then you long to be children again.
ü
This
is what surprises me: that you lose your health working hard all year long to
make a lot of money so you can buy a lot of things, and then you lose your
money to restore your health.
ü
This
is what surprises me: that you are so occupied with painful regrets about the
past or are so consumed with gnawing anxieties about the future that you never
really live in the present, which is all there really is.
ü
This
is what surprises me especially at this time of the rolling year: that your
busyness keeps you running here, there and everywhere, except to the stable
where you will find the inspiration of the season.
ü
This
is what surprises me: that you live as though you’re never going to die, and
then die as though you never lived.”
Silently God took my hands into his, and we were
both silent for a moment. Then I asked God, “What are some of the lessons you
want your children to learn in the new year ahead?
And God answered:
ü
“To
learn that you cannot make anyone love you. All you can do is let yourself be
loved.
ü
To
learn that it is not good to compare yourself with others.
ü
To
learn forgiveness by practicing it.
ü
To
learn that it takes only a few seconds to open profound wounds in people you love,
and it can take many years to heal them.
ü
To
learn that you are, indeed, a rich person, not when you have the most or the
latest or the best, but when you have the wonderful freedom of needing the
least.
ü
To
learn that it is not enough that you forgive others; you must also forgive yourself.
I was deeply grateful for the interview, and I
thanked God for his time. Then I asked, “Is there anything else you would like
me to tell your children, especially as we stand on the threshold of a brand
new year?” God smiled and said, “Just tell them I am here always. Just tell them not to be afraid. I go before them into
2006.”
Prayers in the light of the
manifesto
In peace, let us pray to
the Lord.
Lord, hear our pray
That we might
not rush our children into adulthood but linger with them in their younger
years… In peace let us pray to the Lord.
That we might
accept our own years (whether they are 30, 60, or 90)… In peace let us pray to the Lord.
That we might find
a way to heal the wounds we’ve opened in those we love… In peace let us pray to the Lord.
That we might forgive
those who hurt us, and be freed from the anger that shrivels our spirit… In peace
let us pray to the Lord.
That we might
especially forgive ourselves for whatever mistakes we’ve made, free ourselves from
unavailing regret and move on with our life in the year ahead… In peace let us pray to the Lord.
That we might
be freed from the need to have the most and thus enjoy the wonderful freedom of
one who needs the least… In peace let us pray to the Lord.
That the
Lord God, for whom nothing is impossible, not even fruitfulness in the barren
womb of Elizabeth or in the virginal womb of Mary, the Lord God for whom
nothing is impossible, not even turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse—that that
Lord God might turn the war in Iraq into a great blessing for Iraqis and
Americans and the whole region, in the year ahead… In peace let us pray to the Lord.
That the
Lord God might comfort, sustain and heal the sick—those afflicted with cancer
or macular deterioration or AIDS or
Alzheimer’s or any of the other maladies to which human flesh is heir…. In peace let us pray to the Lord.
That the
Lord God might sustain all those who give care to the sick… In peace let us pray to the Lord.
That the
Lord God might give eternal rest to all our loved ones, especially those who
have died in the year past… In peace let
us pray to the Lord.