It is often said that resolutions are made to be broken. That statement is often not true.
How
many people with an alcohol problem have sworn off the demon and can
point to days, months, years, decades of sobriety? Alcoholics Anonymous,
if they would and they won't, could provide volumes of evidence here.
How many drug abuses, with significant help, have broken the chains of
addiction? How many smokers have sworn off the habit and now breathe
free with a new hold on life? The recently released figures showing
reduced numbers of teens smoking are encouraging news. How many people
have looked at a weight problem and with a careful plan have attacked it
successfully? Similarly with sex addictions, the records of recovery
offer convincing hope for many.
Yes, we are into a New Year, 2002,
a time of new hope, new enthusiasm, new energy. True, there is
melancholy on the passing of another year. But we are not Peter Pans,
doomed to be juveniles for a lifetime. We are more valuable as we get
older.
New Year's is a time for pondering past and future. From
the experience of a divided mind, an uneasy conscience, a sense of
personal failure, we can bring new focus to the finer tastes, the finer
pleasures, the finer aspirations upon which to pitch our lives.
We
do grow. Five years' experience is not one year repeated five times.
Neither are we Scheherazade of The Arabian Nights, telling a different
story for each of 1001 nights.
John Masefield titled his
autobiography, So Long to Learn. But he did learn. At the age of 42 he
was named poet laureate of England in 1930 and remained such until he
died in 1967.
Some people eat ice cream to restore youth,
innocence, and simplicity. Maybe today it is non-fat yogurt. No matter
how complicated and problematic our lives, however, there is a
remembered idealism, a residual innocence upon which to build.
Fresh
starts, new chances, hopeful beginnings remain available. We are
accustomed to a bit of snow in our area during these months. Snow quiets
the atmosphere, puts a soft focus lens on the landscape. It is
conducive to meditation. As we reflect on the past and ponder the
future, we look to those dark areas, blind spots, obstacles in our lives
that inhibit our development and prevent a stronger communion with God.
We
can't afford to underestimate the power of evil, the power of sin in
our lives. We are lifted, however, by our conviction that where evil and
sin abound, grace abounds even more. As George Bernanos writes in the
closing sentence of The Diary of a Country Priest, "Grace is
everywhere."
So we make our resolutions. We dig down within
ourselves to exercise deeper reserves, greater vigor. We move forward to
strengthen ourselves and offer more pronounced service to others.
Through all the challenges we kneel transparent before God in prayer for
His graces.
The year 2002 in our Diocese will see renewed
attention to the Eucharist, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We are
calling for extensive catechesis in every parish on the new "General
Introduction to the Roman Missal." You have already heard about this.
You will be hearing more.
The Eucharist is the source and the
summit of all our Christian life. As we make our resolutions for the New
Year, we might highlight more frequent participation in the Eucharist,
the Mass, as fundamental to all we are doing. We might consider it the
mother of all our resolutions.
Happy 2002! May our experience in the next twelve months be a cause for profound joy this time next year.
Most Rev. Henry J. Mansell
Bishop of Buffalo
January 1, 2002