New Years 2012
January 1,
2012, The Octave Day of Christmas
Numbers 6: 22-27 Galatians 4: 4-7
Luke 2: 16-21
Numbers 6: 22-27 Galatians 4: 4-7
Luke 2: 16-21
First reading from Numbers
The Lord commanded Moses
to tell Aaron and his sons to use the following words in blessing the people of
Israel:
May the Lord bless you
and take care of you!
May the Lord be kind and
gracious to you!
May the Lord look on you
with favor, and give you peace!
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
A reading from the holy Gospel accord to
Luke
Glory to you, Lord.
The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. The shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were amazed. And Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and often pondered about them. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
On the eighth day, when
it was time to circumcise Him He was named Jesus. That was the name given Him
by the angel, before He was conceived.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord
Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
A holyday in search of a
feast
In the church calendar the 1st of January is called the Octave Day of
Christmas - the eighth day since the Lord was born on December 25. On
the eighth day after a Jewish male was born, he was circumcised. Today’s very short
gospel concludes, “When eight days were completed for his circumcision, the child
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, the feast is simply called the Octave Day of
Christmas, and is subtitled The Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of
God. Then added to the mix, there is now a directive which says the 1st
of January may also be celebrated as a World Peace Day.
Octave Day of Christmas - Feast
of the Circumcision of the Lord - Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother
of God - World Peace Day! My gosh! You get the impression that liturgically we’re
not quite sure what we’re celebrating on 1st of January. It seems to
be a holyday in search of a feast to celebrate. The world over, however, is
very uncomplicated about the 1st of January. It simply calls it New Year’s Day – a day to celebrate an
important new beginning.
An emotional moment
Every year as the clock nears midnight on December
31st the eyes of the whole world turn to the dazzling lights and
bustling energy of Times Square in New York City. There anticipation runs high.
The whole world holds its breath, and then a roar of cheers breaks out, as the
clock strikes twelve, and the famous New Year’s Eve super ball (made of Waterford crystal)
descends from the flagpole atop Times Square. The descending ball is watched by one million people in
Times Square below, by millions nationwide, and by over a billion throughout
the world. All are united in bidding a collective farewell (and perhaps a good
riddance) to the departing old year, and all are united in expressing their joy
and hope for the new year.
New
Year’s Eve is an emotional moment for many. At midnight
some people cry in their beer because of some misfortune, setback, tragedy or
death that has befallen them in 2011. Others at midnight blow horns and sing Auld Lang Syne, as they bid goodbye to
the old year and welcome the new one with a sense of renewed strength and hope.
An interview with God on New
Year’s Day
A piece (that has
been flying around in the wide-open spaces of the internet) is titled An Interview with God. With a few changes
and additions the piece can be turned into An
Interview with God on New Year’s Day. Revised a bit, 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 the most about us, your children?” And God paused a
moment and then answered:
“This is what
surprises me: you kids get so bored with childhood: you can’t wait to grow up,
and then you wish you were kids again.
This is what
surprises me: 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 trying to repair your health.
This is what
surprises me: you are so preoccupied with painful regrets about the past, or are
so consumed with gnawing anxieties about the future that you never really live
in the present moment, which is all there really is.
This is what
surprises me (especially at this time of the rolling year): you are busy
running here, there and everywhere, except to the stable where you will find motivation
and strength for facing the new year.
This is what
surprises me: you live as though you’re never going to die, and then die as
though you never lived.”
Lessons to
learn for 2012
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 order to
weather the storms of 2012?” And God answered:
“To learn that you
can’t make anyone love you; all you can do is let yourselves be loved.
To learn that it
takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in people you love, and it can take
many years to heal them.
To learn
forgiveness by practicing it.
To learn also that
it is not enough that you forgive others; you must also forgive yourselves.
To learn that you
are, indeed, rich people, not when you have the most or the latest or the best,
but when you have the wonderful freedom to need the least. ”
The New Year’s Interview with God concludes:
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, and that I go before them into 2012.”
Conclusion
Francis’ special
blessing on Brother Leo
There is a treasured parchment and precious
relic which is preserved in the Basilica
of St. Francis in Assisi. Brother Leo was passing through a crisis, and Francis
helped him in that difficult moment by writing for Leo the Laudes Dei Altissimi (The Praises of the Most High God), and by
giving Leo a special blessing modeled upon the blessing of Aaron in Numbers
6:24-26. Brother Leo himself wrote a rubric on that treasured parchment which
says, "Blessed Francis wrote this blessing with his own hands, and gave it
to me, Brother Leo." This is what Francis wrote (or quoted from Numbers)
for troubled Brother Leo, and which the Church quotes for us on this first day
of the new year:
May the Lord bless you [Brother
Leo] and take care of you!
May the Lord be kind and
gracious to you!
May the Lord look on you
with favor and give you peace [in 2012]!
