Give us this day…
Lord, teach us to pray… (Lk 11:1)
“Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread…” (Lk 11:2-3)
New Year, new me. This year will be different, this year will be better, this year I am going to… This year is hype, it is in a way a lie of the enemy that each of us will wrap ourselves in for at least a brief period of time after which we will wrap ourselves potentially in another lie, “I am a failure.”
For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect. (Mt 24:44)
It is not a bad thing to seek to improve ourselves (now, the emphasis of what we are trying to improve and why is another story). The error lies in living our lives on the premise of a year, the assumption of time. With the gift of the Holy Spirit residing within us we are called to the truth of St. Paul, “Do you not know that you are a new creation?” (2 Corinth 5:17) God is not calling us to tomorrow. He is not calling us to next month, next season, and certainly not next year. God calls us to today. Right here, right now is our New Year wrapped in the space of twenty-four hours. Certainly there are aspects of each of our lives that do not poof overnight and indeed do take time, if we are given the grace of such. Today, though, is the key to the cumulation of all of the days we have left. Today is the day that I can do God’s will. Only today. Today is the day that I can allow the Lord to provide for me. Today is the day that I can forgive the one who has hurt me. Today is the day that I can ask for forgiveness. Today, when I cooperate with the promptings of the Holy Spirit, I can participate in the Lord’s prayer, “Thy will be done on earth.”
Today is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it. (Psalm 118)
This “new year” let us each make the resolution of a “New Day.” Let us commit to receiving the grace of our Lord in the moment. Looking to tomorrow and beyond drowns out the voice of the Holy Spirit in the here and now. When we allow God to, He will enter every nook and cranny of our lives. He will shape us day by day to our greatest potential. He will, not “I will.” There is no need for resolutions beyond living this day with Him, it is that easy. May today bring each of you His grace and peace, joy and fortitude that you may lie down tonight in the whisper of “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” (Mt. 25:21)
