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A New Year Begins

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A New Year Begins

Posted on January 9, 2015 Posted By: Josee Lemoine Categories: Latest News, The Spire
A new year is born.
For some, the time has come to commit to resolutions, while for other people this is the beginning of expectations, expectation of a birth, of a fresh start, of a closure, of a change. Again, for others, continuity will prevail. Whatever our state of mind, the turn of the year does not leave people unmoved. We are reminded of events of the past year. Maybe are we revisiting the goals that we gave ourselves? Career reorientation? Get involved? Take care of yourself?
For the Wise Men, theirs was the vision to find the Messiah, which vision turned into the Epiphany feast day, which is celebrated at the beginning of the year. For each of us, as a Christian, what brings a new year? This is worth stopping and thinking about it. We are living in a world that seems increasingly cruel: savage massacre of civilians, incurable disease outbreak, natural disasters, global warming are all making the front page of the newspapers. Closer to us, austerity measures implemented by governments from all horizons are sometimes threatening our basic needs or our employment stability (if we have one). Increasingly, people are calling on food banks to make both ends meet, although they are working. The number of homeless is increasing. Not to mention changes brought down on our churches: although the Anglican community is on the rise at the Cathedral, it is generally declining at the diocesan level and in many churches.

The society all around us is evolving and changing rapidly, sometimes too fast according to our perception, but the Church as a whole did not follow. It takes time to renew the Church, and that’s good, because this instils a feeling of security, stability that is comforting. But the point is, Jesus did not choose to stay put, comfortable and quiet, but he was rather somehow revolutionary, changing the establishment, infringing and reforming his own church rules.

So I ask again the question: as a Christian, what does a new year carry? What do we want it to carry? What would Jesus wish it to carry? This is worth pausing and pondering.

Through Baptism and Confirmation, we committed to proclaim, as much by our word as by our actions, the Good News of God incarnated in Jesus-Christ, to look for Christ to serve him through the people that we will meet and to love our neighbour as much as ourselves, and also to fight for justice and peace across all nations and to respect the dignity of the human being.

Considering our commitment, what would we like to undertake, change or develop in this New Year? Let’s recollect in prayers and ask God what he expects from us, from each of us. We are His church, His people: He will tell us and He will guide us all.

May 2015 be a blessed year for each and all of you.

Josée

Josée is a parishioner of the Cathedral and a candidate for ordination in the Diocese of Montreal, currently completing her studies at the Montreal Diocesan Theological College. 

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