Open Reflections

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Every day is a new beginning

The earth pursues her orbit for one more year and we find ourselves entangled in the wheel of time hurrying to and fro tending to our various daily tasks, which we often consider mundane and uninteresting.

Nothing, however, is further from the truth!

Every new day, every new week, month or year contain an untapped potential, which only requires direction, colour and purpose on our part.

We must simply listen, and we shall hear the “voice” of the events as they unfold in our surrounding world; this world awaits from us to be fathomed again, to be “created” anew every morning, every hour, and every season.

We can do this well once we are in touch with ourselves, which is with our conscience and our deeper desires of our heart.

This happens when we are in communion with our Creator and Creator of “all things visible and invisible”. Not only does He bestows life on us, but also calls us to work with Him.

The Lord has said  ”I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I have learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15, 15).

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On the first day of the New Year the Church invites us to honour the most Holy Mother of God.

She is the one who knew how to listen and learn what the will of God was and in all freedom accept it and collaborate in God’s plan.

That is the reason the Church calls the Virgin Mary Co-redemptrice;

Mother of the Redeemer and spiritual Mother of all mankind she shows us the way to Her Son. Hers is the quiet path of the meditative prayer, the giving of self, the inner attention and the peace that surpasses every expectation.

Happy New Year!

 

All things are yours

No more boasting about men!

All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is of God.   

Saint Paul writes the above to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 3, 22).

This is a powerful reminder of our place in the Universe.

All has been given to us through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Once we become aware of this truth and accept it we find ourselves and the meaning of our life.

Beloved of God and called to eternal life with Him there is nothing that may be able to prevent us from working according to His will.

 

How does the Church sanctify the year cycle?

 The primitive Church followed the weekly rhythm to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, the central Mystery of our faith, namely the death and resurrection of our Lord.

On every “first day of the week”, i.e. Sunday, this was and has remained her central act of worship.

Every Sunday the death and resurrection of our Lord is remember and mystically re-enacted so that the faithful may participate and taste the fruits of God’s action for our salvation.

The liturgy has gradually been enriched with celebrations of various events in the life of the Lord Jesus and of the Holy Virgin, like Christmas, Epiphany, Presentation etc. as well as with the memorials of the martyrs and other saints.

Periods of fasting were later introduced like Lent and Advent etc.

The Church through her liturgy praises, worships and adores the Holy Trinity and prays for the salvation of the world.

The liturgy renders present the mystery celebrated and its efficacy in our lives is real and active.

In this way, by the grace of God the cycle of the year gets sanctified, hence an instrument of grace too.

 

Twice was I born

A popular Greek song says: “Twice was I born, the first time for myself, the second time for you”.

These verses express a deep love with a particular existential twist and significance.

This strong experience of love may certainly express perfectly the Christian manner of loving God too.

We, initially, come into the world “for ourselves” as it were, to live and find happiness.

Then, we are reborn through Holy Baptism in a new life in Christ and hence live for Him.

For a baptised person Christ is the centre of his/her life and it is “through Him, with Him and in Him” that we find real life and happiness.

Are we enough in love with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit so as to tell Him: “I have been (re)born for You”?

 

Did you know…

According to certain sources the Greek word Ειρήνη (ΕΙΡΗΝΗ), eiréne )  =  peace,

comes from two words:

Ερώ + νους (Eró + nous).

Eró = I will speak, and

Nous = mind.

Hence, peace (eiréné) in the Greek thought means «I shall speak (first) and speak my mind», therefore I will be reasonable and calm and express my thoughts, implying «I shall react peacefully, and not engage in conflict or war»!

Christian thought and experience have moved further in recognising that peace is a gift from God and its seat is in man’s heart. (i.e. in the innermost core of his existence).

Through Baptism man has been made « a new creation » and has acquired the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2, 16).

Not prisoners of the past

The purification of memory, a theme dear to Saint Pope John-Paul II, has to do not only with the personal level, but also with the collective consciousness, that is the collective conscience of the Church, of peoples and nations and of communities in general.

In any case, purification of memory entails the eradication of any forms of bitterness and violence which persist and influence our lives today.

If we place the hurtful memories at the feet of the Cross of Christ we shall realise that whatever has hurt us, whatever has inflicted damage on us, whatever keeps us chained to the past have lost their hold on us.

In the light of God’s love and mercy they have lost their “omnipotence”.

They became mere inanimate image, lifeless and colourless, unable to cause us pain anymore.

Since God is on our side who can be against us? (Rom. 8, 31)

Nothing and no-one from the past can hurt us!

So, to the past violence we do not respond with violence, neither to past insults with insults nor to the call to war with war.

Rather, we propose and promote the peace.

 

Old and New Year Ditties

New Year met me somewhat sad:
Old Year leaves me tired,
Stripped of favourite things I had
Baulked of much desired:
Yet farther on my road to-day
God willing, farther on my way.

New Year coming on apace
What have you to give me?
Bring you scathe, or bring you grace,
Face me with an honest face;
You shall not deceive me:
Be it good or ill, be it what you will,
It needs shall help me on my road,
My rugged way to heaven, please God…

By Christina Rosetti,

New York, USA

(1830-1894)

 

For unity

Each year from the 18th to the 25th of January a week of prayer for the unity among Christians has been organised.

From all parts of the world, Christians of all denominations come together, to a different country every time, in order to pray together and get to know each other better.

Through our Baptism we have become “living stones” in the edifice of the Church, so it is our duty to support her. The Lord Jesus Christ wishes one flock and one shepherd. (John 10, 16).

This year the Church in Malta chose the theme for prayer and meditation:

“They received us very friendly” (Acts 28, 2).

Through friendly behaviour and hospitality dialogue and unity are encouraged.

The Roman Pontiff, as the successor of Peter, is the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity of both the bishops and the faithful.     

                         (Vatican II, Apostolic Constitution “Lumen Gentium”).

 

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