Happy New Year!

I am about to do something new; this moment it will unfold. Can you not perceive it? - Isaiah 43:19

It is always wonderful to have an opportunity to "start over." Fortunately, we have many "new years," many start-over times each calendar year. The most obvious is January 1, the day we take a deep breath to get over Christmas festivities and open up a brand new calendar. That is a time of resolutions, of promises, of hopes. But it is not the only such time.

See, I am creating a new heaven and a new earth! The past will no more be remembered nor will it ever come to mind. - Isaiah 65:17

September brings another new beginning with the new school year, the new hockey season approaching and the fall air urging us to shake off our summer lethargy and buckle down.

But Happy New Year in May? Yes! Easter has come, and with it spring: new life, new growth. We are surrounded by trees in blossom, tulips and daffodils colouring our yards and new growth in a multitude of shades of green soaking up the sun. Even the vines, cut back to almost nothing last fall, are showing signs of life. Spring does indeed mean "something new" which "this moment will unfold."

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. - John 12.24-25

But the past which "will no more be remembered" is still there, as is the "grain of wheat" which "falls on the ground and dies" in order to yield the rich harvest which we foresee.

So enjoy the spring, rejoice in the warmth and colours of nature, look forward to that rich harvest. But don’t forget the seed. Easter celebrations are behind us; now is the time to live out the Paschal Mystery. Happy New Year!

Written by Mary Buckley CSJ