“O Lord our God, who have placed times and seasons under your own authority; who in your infinite compassion and goodness, have counted us worthy to enter a New Year of your loving kindness, bless it and keep us in peace.” — From the Doxology on the 1st of the Year Service
The faithful begin each chapter of life with God. In glorification, at the beginning of the calendar year, we thank our Heavenly Father for allowing us to enter into a new year, and we make requests of Him. Active requests are made of God to bless the present time, and the time ahead. Furthermore, we request that He maintain us in His presence, which equates to peace for a person of faith.
We often are consumed with the New Year’s tradition of resolutions…a tradition that is coupled with a wink and a nod of disbelief. Perhaps this year an abandonment of this often empty tradition is wise, and a willingness to commit to the shepherding of the Church will yield more substance in our lives. In truly praying the words of the New Year’s Doxology, His grace can be received and experienced, immediately transforming the world with divine substance and beauty. This transformation is the aim of the Christian life, yet it is not one that can be experienced by a spectator, it must be witnessed by an active participant. To receive the gifts that God has already offered to mankind, the faithful must engage an active Christian lifestyle
“Prayer is a request for what is good, offered by the devout of God. But we do not restrict this request simply to what is stated in words…We should not express our prayer merely in syllables, but the power of prayer should be expressed in the moral attitude of our soul and in the virtuous actions that extend throughout our life…This is how you pray continually — not by offering prayer in words, but by joining yourself to God through your whole way of life, so that your life becomes one continuous and uninterrupted prayer.” — Saint Basil the Great, Homily on the Martyr Julitta
To receive the Lord’s blessings in this New Year, and to maintain His peace, the faithful must find ways to share His blessings and presence with others. The words of the New Year Doxology Service are offered with superficiality if they are not made whole with efforts to share the Love of God. How can we, the faithful, truly enter 2015 with a desire to do better? In order for anything to be good, it must be connected to God. We the faithful should enter this New Year with a willingness to receive the Lord’s blessings through an engaged Christian life that strives to share the Love of God.
Beginning today, how can our neighbors witness the Love of God through our relationships with them? Better diet and exercise are indeed worthy goals. Receiving the blessings of God by virtue of sharing them with others is a worthy life. There is no experience more substantive than a life worthy of Christian title — such is true happiness!
May 2015 be a Happy New Year, filled with God’s grace through our active choice to live Christianity each and every day!