The New Year affords us also a wonderful opportunity to renew and re-dedicate our lives to the Lord.  The work of the Holy Spirit in the world, in the Church and in our own lives is always focused on renewal, reform and refreshment. God is the God of new things, the God of unexpected and exciting surprises.  

This idea that the God of Israel delights to work among his people in new and exciting ways is very evident in the Scriptures. The psalmists, for example, are very sensitive to the new things that God is constantly doing and express this by pointing to the ‘new song’ they sense rising in their hearts:

He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God. (40:3)
I will sing a new song to thee,
O God… (144:9)
Sing to the Lord a new song. (149:1)

The prophets, too, were attuned to the Spirit at work in their own lives and in the world around them, and, prompted by the Holy Spirit, pointed forward to a time when God would indeed do a new thing not just for his people Israel, but for the whole of humankind. For example, the prophet Isaiah declares:

‘I am the LORD, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to graven images.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.’ (Isa. 42:8-9)

The ‘new thing’ the law and the prophets looked to was the coming of Christ; the unveiling of Jesus to the world. What had previously been hidden was now being unveiled: ‘From this time forth I make you hear new things, hidden things which you have not known’ (Isa. 48:6). The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the God of renewal, re-creation and new life.

‘For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth;
and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
But be glad and rejoice for ever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing,
and her people a joy.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.’
(Isa. 65:17-19)

In the birth of Jesus came the new song and the new life, and with him a new teaching. Indeed, so struck were his first hearers by his teaching that they wondered where it came from and by whose authority he spoke: ‘they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes’ (Mark 1:22). Through Jesus’ teaching and through his life and witness, the fullness of this newness was revealed. Jesus has given us a new command – the command of love (John 13:34); the new covenant in his blood (Luke 22:20); new life in the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:4); the gift of the new creation, a new humanity (2 Cor. 5:17); a new and transformed mind (Eph. 4:23; Rom. 12:2); and a new birth (1 Pet. 1:3).

We are recipients of so much new life, so much blessing and so much grace. For sure, a New Year is an exciting time in so many ways but, over and above the joy of the season, for those of us who have received so much in Christ it can be a time to literally count our blessings and to renew our commitment to serve the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is our greatest dignity and our most noble vocation.
The impulse to re-dedicate our lives or the desire for renewal is best served through the grace available to us in the sacrament of reconciliation.

 Pope Benedict urges us, in this year dedicated to St Paul, to ‘learn, as the apostle says, to let yourselves be reconciled with God (2 Corinthians 5:20). Especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus waits for you to forgive you your sins and reconcile you with his love through the ministry of the priest. By confessing your sins humbly and truthfully, you will receive pardon of God himself through the words of his minister. What a great opportunity the Lord has given us with this sacrament to renew ourselves from within and to progress in our Christian life. I recommend that you make use of it all the time!’  

The greatest resolution we can make as we stand on the cusp of this New Year is to grow in our knowledge and understanding of God’s love for us. It is this knowledge and understanding, more than anything else, which helps us mature in our Christian life. Again, we sit at the feet of Pope Benedict and learn from him:
‘The duty of the priest and the confessor is primarily this: to bring every person to experience the love of Christ for them, encountering him on the path of their own lives as St Paul met him on the road to Damascus. We know the impassioned declaration of the Apostle to the Gentiles after the meeting which changed his life: ‘He loved me and gave himself for me’ (Galatians 2:20). This is his personal experience on the way to Damascus: the Lord Jesus loved St Paul and gave himself for him. And in Confession this is our way, our way to Damascus, our experience. Jesus has loved me and has given himself for me.’

We wish you all a blessed and peaceful New Year, and we assure you of our prayers. By God’s grace 2009 will be a time of renewal and deepening of our faith as we grasp ever more firmly and securely the love God has for us and for everyone.