With the new year just five days away, have you made plans for how you will celebrate the beginning of the new year? Will you make any new year’s resolutions?
The new year begins on Sunday, December 3rd. I will celebrate it the same way I celebrate the beginning of every new year, by celebrating Masses (a vigil Mass at 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday morning Masses at 8 and 10 am).
The beginning of a new year is seen as a time for new beginnings. The secular new year falls on January 1st every year. It will be celebrated across the world by individuals and in huge groups. It is seen as a time to cast off anything bad in the past year and to make needed changes in our lives. That’s why people make new year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, most people are unsuccessful in keeping their new year’s resolutions. I think part of this is a lack of resolve. We would like to change a behavior but we aren’t really committed to doing it. I think another part of it is that we try to do it on our own. If we truly want to make a change for the better in our lives, we will likely need help. Who better to ask for help than God? To seek God’s help, one might seek the intercession of a saint, particularly if there is a patron saint for what you are trying to change.
When we realize that we need God’s help to make the change, then the beginning of a new year in the church can be a great time to make the change. This is the new year we celebrate this coming Sunday, December 3, 2023. Last Sunday we celebrated the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe. This celebration is always celebrated on the last Sunday of the church liturgical year. Through this week we remain in the current year as we celebrate the 34th week in Ordinary Time. Then on Sunday (including the Saturday night vigil Mass), we will begin the new church liturgical year with the 1st Sunday of Advent.
I spoke of a new year as a time for new beginnings. For a great new beginning in the history of Christianity, we look to the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior that we celebrate at Christmas. The birth of Jesus, God becoming man, marked a new beginning. Jesus “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
Jesus became man to save us!
While Christmas marks a new beginning for us, we need time to prepare ourselves. When I say, “prepare ourselves,” I am not thinking of shopping and decorating. Done with the right attitude in our hearts, there is nothing wrong with presents and decorating. However, when I speak of preparing ourselves, I am referring to our heart and soul. Are we ready spiritually for the coming of Jesus?
To prepare ourselves, our Catholic faith gives us the season of Advent. As we begin Advent, our readings are selected to help discern our readiness for the Second Coming of Jesus. As Advent progresses, the readings will shift to the time just before Jesus’ First Coming and his birth.
Are you ready for Jesus to come into your heart and soul?
What do you need to change to be ready? Are there sins you need to be freed from? In Advent, generally extra times are offered for the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we may allow God to cleanse us of our sins.
The church liturgical year always gives us four Sundays in Advent. Christmas is always celebrated on December 25th. To determine when Advent begins, simply count out four Sundays before Christmas. This year this puts the beginning of Advent on December 3rd. It is the 1st Sunday of Advent that begins a new year in our church.
If you would like to learn more about the church liturgical year, please see the “The Liturgical Year” page on my website.
Before I conclude, I would like to take a moment to speak about January 1st in the church. January 1st marks the beginning of the new secular year. We celebrate January 1st as a Holy Day but it is not because it is the beginning of the secular new year. It is the eighth day of Christmas. It is the day when we celebrate Mary as the Mother of God. This is why it is a holy day. Many homilies that day (including my own sometimes) will refer to the beginning of a new year. That is fine. God offers us a new beginning in Jesus through Mary’s yes to being his mother.
Now, I invite to you pray about what God is calling you to do to prepare you heart and soul for the coming of Jesus.
Peace,
Fr. Jeff