As fast as the fireworks’ sound that faded out about 10
minutes after midnight.
The 9 day novena preparing us for the day the word became
flesh on Christmas day is now just a memory relying on notes and posts to prompt
recall. Not if we see its significance that His birth gives a new meaning to
humanity. The late Fr. James Donelan in his homily said Christmas sets a new beginning,
“ . . . where the eternal cycle of despair
is broken, the holding pattern is no longer holding, the Gospel proclaims that
today is different from yesterday, that we are not finished with life because
God is not finished with us.”
Celebrating the solemnity of Mother Mary on the eve of New
Year’s Day is a reminder after Christmas to see our life from a fresh point of
view, reminding us that there is hope and that we can begin again.
Even if events happen so fast, it is this hope that we can
hold on to that the promise of salvation can be fulfilled. That is why we can start
the new year happy.
