Friends and Family at the beginning

     Time passes so quickly.  We have now entered into a new year, not according to the calendar, but in the tradition and the practice of the People of God, the Church.  We call this transition Advent, and it leads us into a renewal of our journey of faith.  

     A week ago we acclaimed Christ to be our King, the King of the Universe and the Lord of our lives.  With that acclamation, all that had brought us to that moment was called to mind and celebrated, or reflected upon and repented of.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving, on our national holiday that precedes Advent, we paused to call to mind the blessings of the Lord.  In the Scriptures for these last few weeks of the Church year, we heard readings that spoke of the end times, of the end of an age, of a day of judgement.  In our attentiveness to the news, real and fake, we see the ever deepening needs of our society and world, of our failures in learning the lessons of life, and most importantly, our failure to learn the message of the Gospels.  We reflect upon the past year and face the challenge of the new year.  And then we begin again.

     But as we continue our journey of Faith and face the uncertainty of the new day, we do so with a spirit of hope.  In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul calls us to join the Church at Corinth in reflection, and in giving thanks to God always for the grace that he has bestowed upon us.  He tells us to count our blessings as we "wait" for the revelation of the Lord.  He assures us that the Lord will keep us firm to the end in our Faith.  With this assurance we can cry out with the Psalmist today, "Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved."  Paul tells Corinth that "God is faithful, and in him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

     We forget what Paul reminds us of, and we seek the face of anyone but Christ to lead us or comfort us or be our foundation.  And all too often we repeat our mistakes because we have not learned the lessons of history and the message of the Gospel.  As we enter into Advent, break out from the pattern of repetition and move forward in grace with grace.  And may we remember the words of Isaiah the prophet: "No ear has ever heard, no eye has ever seen, any God but you doing such deeds for those who wait for him."

     Our courage to move forward into this new year with confidence happens when we see the face of God and turn toward him.  We see the face of God in others: in Mary who is the icon of Advent, and in our friends and family.  I was blessed these past two days in spending time with family, and with friends who have become family to me.  My sister, Janie and I had lunch today with cousins, and yesterday I shared an early Christmas party with the Christian Mothers of my former parish, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.  Following the party I joined the parish for the evening Mass and was graciously welcomed by the pastor, Father John Moineau, and greeted by the parish family with warmth and love.  It was a good beginning of a new day, a new season of grace, and a new year of blessing for the Church.