Thoughts for the New Year

At the rolling of the old year to the new year, our thoughts turn to what the new year will hold for us. I have heard many people say, “I hope that 2022 will be better than 2021.” Considering the many challenges we have found in the past few years, I do not wonder why so many are hoping for better times. As we begin a new year, I offer a few thoughts that have been the fruit of my prayer.
           
Just a few days ago we welcomed 2022. We should not think that it is a matter of only putting up a new calendar on our wall or remembering to date checks correctly. Even though it begins a new civil year, we should not forget from whom the New Year is given and to whom it belongs. It is 2022 A.D. Those two letters after the number of the year stand for “Anno Domini,” which means, “The Year of Our Lord.” He is the Giver of this New Year to live our life in love and make the world a place that reflects His love. We should put Him at the center of all we do and how we live.
           
Each year on New Year’s Day the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. It is no coincidence that this great feast begins the year. This feast helps us to honor Our Lady for the central mystery of her life, her bringing God Himself into the world by conceiving and giving birth to Jesus Christ. As the Mother of God, she bears the Lord into human history and into our own lives. By God’s plan, she is the Mother of Christ and also our Mother. On January 1 and on every day of the year we rejoice that Our Lady desires to be a mother to each one of us, forming us by her example and powerful intercession to be living images of her Son Jesus. She wants to bring us to Him, to grow in holiness which means to become more and more like Him. As we begin the New Year, we are filled with confidence that we have such a Mother to keep us centered on her Son, Our Savior. We should put 2022 under her protection and trust that many blessings will come to us.
           
When we are tempted in this new year to lose hope and become despondent, we should remember to whom 2022 belongs and to whom we belong. It is the Lord who is the Master of history and the King who rules over us. When we are thinking that we cannot make a difference in our own life and in the lives of others, it is then that we turn to Jesus and His Mother in prayer.
           
What do we say to God? How do I call out to Him? How do I get my bearings?  Here is how I began my New Year 2022.

At 11:00 pm on December 31, I was in the chapel of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus in Morningside. Gathered there were the Sisters and a group of lay people kneeling before Jesus, on the altar in the Blessed Sacrament. At 11:15 we prayed the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary in a beautiful, meditative manner contemplating the coming of Jesus among us born of His Blessed Mother. We then prayed the Litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking her maternal intercession for our own needs, for all the intentions recommended to us and for the needs of the Church. Just before midnight we consecrated ourselves to Mary’s Immaculate Heart.

As the New Year was heralded in at midnight with revelry and celebration, with reverent praise and love we began Mass, the offering of Jesus’ Sacrifice to the Father made present on the altar. For me, it anchored the New Year in Jesus’ Eucharistic Presence and under the patronage of His Holy Mother and ours. It was a declaration of hope and trust in the Incarnate Word of God that said, “Jesus, I trust in You!”
           
As 2022 unfolds and when challenges arise, when it seems that darkness is gaining the upper hand, I will go back to that very beginning of the year, when we knelt in adoration before the Real Presence of the King of Kings and the Master of history and called upon His Holy Mother. I will remember Him to whom 2022 belongs and to whom I belong. I will call on God as “Our Father.” I will honor and greet His Mother as I pray, “Hail, Mary.” I will remember that all “glory belongs to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” I will confess again that God gave me His own Mother to be mine. Just as the Holy Name “Jesus” is at the center of the “Hail Mary,” so, too, He is at the center of my life.
           
So what is there to fear in 2022? Absolutely nothing!

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh