Comfort and Grace

As we say goodbye to 2021 and warmly welcome 2022, it is easy to dwell on all the negative things that happened last year.  Most years, especially the last two, we can’t wait to close the door on the past. We say, “I can’t wait for this year to be over!”, or “I’m looking forward to the new year”.  Really though, it is the past that has formed us.  Take comfort in the positive adjustments you made in your life in 2021.  Did you simplify your life? Did you create a new habit?  Did you start a new hobby?  Did you better appreciate others?  As we opened our doors and stepped back outside, did you take more time to greet people?  Reflect on the ways you changed last year, ways that you changed for the better that you can bring with you in 2022.

Consider what the great Saint, Sister Faustina, reflected on at the beginning of her New Year’s “blog”, otherwise known as her Diary entry on January 1, 1938 (#1449)

Welcome to you, New Year, in the course of which my perfection will be accomplished.  Thank You in advance, O Lord, for everything Your goodness will send me.  Thank You for the cup of suffering from which I shall daily drink.  Do not diminish its bitterness, O Lord, but strengthen my lips that, while drinking of this bitterness, they may know how to smile for love of You, my Master.  I thank you for Your countless comforts and graces that flow down upon me each day like the morning dew, silently, imperceptibly which no curious eye may notice, and which are known only to You as of today because, at the moment when You hand me the cup, my heart may not be capable of giving thanks.

St. Faustina’s Diary Divine Mercy in My Soul

As we enter this new year of 2022, it’s a great time to be present in the moment, the moment you are in right now. Take time to reflect on what “comforts and graces” you can give others this year.  In 2022, when you see someone, give them the gift of your smile.  Remember that they are a Child of God, just like you.  When having a conversation, look at the person as they talk and really listen to what they are saying.  Jesus spent time with people.  He stopped and gave them time when others wanted to rush past.  When Jesus looks at a person, he sees them.  Jesus is the perfect example of intentionality. How can you be Jesus to others in this new year?