This New Year

17. January 2011 by admin.

Sixteen days ago we began a new year. 2011. Along with the usual greeting of ‘Happy New Year’, a lot of people expressed to me their desire for a better year than 2010. “Father, may this year bring you many blessings.” On New Year’s Eve, someone sent me a text message on my cellphone saying: “Wishing family and friends a Great New Year full of energy, health, peace, money and lots of love.” I wrote back, “money, no.” And they responded, “Just love, health and peace.”  I wrote back, “lots of love.”

 What is behind all our wonderful desires for the New Year? Wouldn’t it be HOPE? We are all hoping that 2011 be a more fruitful year than 2010. Everyday we use many expressions of hope:

-       I hope so

-       I hope to God

-       We hope for he best

-       I hope not

-       I should hope so

-       Then there’s ‘half hoping’

-       And there is ‘hope against hope’

 We know that hope is the desire and expectation of something good not yet attained. What is the greatest thing we hope for? Isn’t it happiness? We all want to be happy. What takes away our happiness? Trails and tribulations, hardships, problems, difficulties, sickness, loneliness and abandonment. The list goes on. We call all of this SUFFERING. Suffering is the big cause of our unhappiness. If we can eliminate suffering from our lives, we can all be happy. Especially that horrible thing we don’t like to think of, DEATH. Right? Seems pretty simple.

That’s what human hope is all about. If we can eliminate disease, poverty, discrimination and war from our existence we will live happily. Therefore our hope should be placed in all those things that help us do just that. We have science, technology and medicine at our disposition.  We also have government and politicians at our beck and call. If we could just could get the right mixture of all of these ingredients, we could finally have the formula for the elimination of suffering and the onset of happiness once and for all. Maybe 2011 is going to be the year for all of this.

Those of us who have a realistic view of things, however, see that this is pie in the sky. We have already had thousands upon thousands of years of this concoction –and science, medicine and technology improve every year (I’m not so sure about government and politicians)- and yet we still have the same amount, if not more, suffering present in our lives. We are still not happy. “No, father, but 2011 is going to be the year!” Shouldn’t we be placing our hope on something else? Shouldn’t we be placing our hope in Someone else?

Christian hope also seeks happiness. But we know that happiness is not to be found completely in this world. Place your heart on whatever you so desire in this world and you realize how fleeting it is. True, we do have moments of health and peace- but only to be disrupted with sickness and turmoil. And especially with death.

What should we place our hope in then in 2011?

St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians says,

 1Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2by which also you are saved, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. 6After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8and last of all, He appeared to me also.  12Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all people the most to be pitied.

 Our hope must be placed in God! No one and nothing else can give us an assurance of happiness. HE is the only one who can give it to us- unless He is a fake and a liar. We sure have enough of them in this world. Nothing else makes any sense.

 Yes, our Lord promises us happiness and we must hope in Him. BUT, the happiness He promises is not fulfilled in this world. It DOES begin here, though. We must ALWAYS remember that. Otherwise, placing all our eggs in this basket we will be disillusioned.

 2011 must be a year of great hope. Hope in God. Hope in his promise of eternal life. Hope in His only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ- who alone can save us from the injustice of the present world.

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