A NEW YEAR – A TIME TO BRING
THE LIGHT OF HOPE TO OUR WORLD.

by Sr. Brenda Walsh, Racine Dominican

As we celebrate a New Year, many people look back at the resolutions they have made and how they were carried out or not put into practice. It is also a good time to name and shape our hopes for the coming year, and to decide what would be helpful ways to improve our own personal lives, our communities, nation and world. Our hope is that all of us can work together – the young and old, rich and poor, people of other cultures, colors and creeds, will all join hands and hearts to create a better world, especially for those most in need. 

We can start out with gratitude because we believe that God’s abiding promise and presence will never let us walk alone. We know tha the blessings we enjoy are gifts from our loving God. To trust in our God is to be thankful for what we have been given. Gifts are not to be hoarded but to be shared and the New Year is a good time to plan how we will share them and bring hope to our world.

After viewing the evening news, we find endless stories of war, violence, abuse and neglect. We also hear of millions of people, including children and youth, who are dying of hunger, disease, and lack of caring adults in their lives. To address these problems, it will take the efforts of each of us to be part of the solution and work to create a world in line with God’s design. We are given a divine power to look beyond and beneath the problems and see the possibilities for a better future for everyone. We are called to be builders of bridges, not walls that divide people. A great need that exists is to have hope that a better world is indeed possible, and to share that hope with others. To accomplish this, we need to build our lives and hopes on a solid spiritual foundation and to go deep within our minds and hearts to experience that divine power at work within us and among us. Hope is not the same as optimism. IT is not a guarantee that we will never have problems. It is an assurance that God will always have our best interests at heart and God’s outcome will always be the best outcome.

WHERE DO WE BEGIN?

1. Gather in small groups to pray, ponder and plan with purpose, calling on the Spirit to guide us. We start by giving thanks for all the blessings we enjoy each day of our lives.

2,Name some of the issues that need addressing in our time and place. They can be issues like the care of creation, helping the hungry,  addressing human trafficking, looking  at alternatives to endless conflicts and wars, abuse and neglect, and other issues.

3. Select the issue you would like to start with and involve as many people as possible, people of various ages, cultures and creeds, and varying abilities. Recall with them that God’s power working within us and through us will enable us to make a big difference.

4. Engage the wisdom of the elders and invite them to share their experience and perspectives. They can provide much prayer support that will bring life and hope to all.

5. We need to approach youth as people who have something valuable to offer, and not as community problems. Many young people today are searching for meaningful  ways to help people in need. There are endless possibilities. Several churches and faith communities are arranging for young people to get involved in specific mission project, some of them overseas. After such an experience, one is never the same. 

By sharing our hopes and dreams with others and getting involved in solutions we help light the world with hope. We can all be effective prayer partners in working to make our communities, cities and world to be supportive of human life and to help accomplish God’s dream for all. We have the ability by calling on God’s power. Do we have the willingness and hope to make our world a better place for people everywherel?  This is not a time for gloom and dismay. We can look to the future with great hope, confident that God will be with us every step of the way.

Let us begin today with courage, conviction and hope.