Grace and peace to each you as we begin this New Year – 2022!

There’s something about beginning a new year that raises the specter of hope in each of us. It’s like beginning a new chapter in which the pages have yet to be written. What will be recorded for us this year? Our joys, our hopes, our worries, and anxieties? This Christmas season is again fraught with the worry and anxiety of another spike in the virus, albeit a milder but more virulent strain. Nonetheless, we want so much to pursue our hopes and dreams in a way that everyone can fulfill them.

One of the hopes and dreams that I have is that we will rediscover the wonder and beauty of the Eucharist. It is a time to renew what we learned when we received our First Holy Communion.  It was a special time in which we learned that the Eucharist was something more. It is Christ’s gift of Himself to us: His Body and His Blood given in sacrifice for our sins and for our salvation. Receiving our Lord often helps us to become more and more what we receive. Namely, we are the presence of Christ in our world. Through the Eucharist, our souls, our hearts, and our minds are transformed into being the presence of Christ throughout the world. For us Catholics, there is nothing more special than the reception of the Body and Blood of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

For that reason, I hope you number among your resolutions the joy of the Christmas season and a serious attempt to rediscover the power of the Eucharist in your life.

Taking time in adoration is one way to silence our busy lives to listen to the Word of God speaking to us, inviting us, and calling us to Himself. Another way is in our service to the poor and vulnerable in our many communities. They are the ones who live in the peripheries of life and are not in the mainstream.

How can we be Christ in these difficult situations? How can we invite others to share what we have come to appreciate about our faith in Christ for ourselves?

As we embark on this New Year, I pray that we can walk together, in solidarity with each other, to lift each other up and witness to one another the joy that we found in responding to God’s call to follow Him as a Christian.

Know of my prayers for you at the beginning of this year! May I also beg your prayers for me as we form a more vibrant faith community in central and northern Alabama.

May God bless you abundantly this year!