Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I send you all prayers and blessings for newness of life that not only begins each year, but each new day! While our church calendar begins the new year with anticipation for the nativity of Christ in Advent, we who follow the Gregorian calendar in the western world are conditioned to the New Year being in January. So, it is a season where we find new beginnings.

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I send you all prayers and blessings for newness of life that not only begins each year, but each new day! While our church calendar begins the new year with anticipation for the nativity of Christ in Advent, we who follow the Gregorian calendar in the western world are conditioned to the New Year being in January. So, it is a season where we find new beginnings.

Unfortunately, what begins as relief,"Whew! Glad that year is over. I now resolve to..." often becomes a dispirited and discouraged, "Here I go again..." Those who continue the tradition of making New Year's resolutions tend to set themselves up for disappointment and a sense of failure. But, what if we began to see the New Year as an invitation?

Each year, and each new day, we are invited to join the dance of life, to revel in the beauty and wonder at the creation and life around us. It is a choice to see the awe-inspiring in what we sometimes call the mundane. The joy of the woods full of singing birds this morning stopped me in my tracks! (It was January!) We are invited to see the faces in front of us, not just “a bag lady,” or “a slick business woman,” or a “janitor,” or a “busy body that drives me crazy.” No, these are invitations we pass by all the time—unique individuals with a story all their own.

There isn’t a dull moment in this life party we are invited to join. But, it does require us to pay attention. Every morning you get up, the past is finished and gone. We get a new start all the time! This day is the one we live, this day is the gift we are given, this day is the day we allow ourselves to be embraced by Love itself, knowing ourselves to be completely and unwaveringly loved. Every bit of us, too, not just the nice parts. We are KNOWN by the Unknowable.

I hope we, each one, can set off on this adventure of life anew, and pause for a few seconds when we walk out the door to our jobs and look around. Pause for a second in the grocery store or standing in line and notice the interesting people around us and give thanks that we are not all alike.

This adventure is thrilling! Sometimes it can be tiring, sometimes it can be difficult, but it is always an adventure with Love itself. Francis saw life this way. No matter the setbacks, no matter the pain, he eventually got around it and embraced the good and bad together as one whole love offering. Even poverty! He obviously struggled, he obviously got grumpy. But each day, each year was a new gift he intended not to waste.

So, from my heart to yours, I embrace you with all the Love I have been graciously given and hope that we spread that Love around with one another and the world. It is in great need of our embrace.

Peace and All Good Things,

Sr. Magdalena, Chaplain, oef