The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas

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“The Last Day of the Year from Hell”

“You want me to reflect on the last day of the year from hell?”, I asked Dr. Egler. I can’t wait! I can’t believe it is FINALLY here. But what will the new year bring other than a new calendar? We are still running around with masks on – or socially distancing alone at home – and tomorrow we will wake up with all the uncertainties of the strangest political climate this writer has ever seen. So, before we throw the bubbly on ice and prepare to celebrate, let’s look at today’s Scriptures.

The First Letter of St. John doesn’t give me much inspiration, either, speaking of the Anti-Christ and lies. I find a bit of consolation in his assertion that we all KNOW THE TRUTH and that every lie is alien to the truth. But then I remember that this is “John” speaking, the one who tells us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life… in 2021 as well as in 2020.

We often ignore the Responsorial Psalm in our reflections, but today’s Psalm begs us to consider creation’s joy over God’s coming. Yes, he has come as a Baby at Bethlehem, but he is coming again, and it is up to us to prepare for that coming. We are being given a whole new year in which to do so. What shall we do with these 365 days to hasten God’s Kin-dom?

But the beginning of John’s Gospel, what used to be called the Proto-Gospel, sums it all up for us. The New Year is ushered in by the One who is/was FROM THE BEGINNING and is still with us. As Hebrew tradition reminds us to look back and remember what God has done for us – even in this year of Covid-19 – and remember that God is faithful to God’s promise, before we write our New Year’s Resolutions, let’s each take a few minutes to look back over the closing year and see God’s Hand in our life. And then let us walk in hope into Anno Domini 2021.

Sr. Nancy Celaschi, OSF

School Sisters of St. Francis, US Province

Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs, Rome