2011 New Year Message – Rev. Fr. P.M. Cheriyan

Written by Fr. P. M. Cherian Friday, 31 December 2010 19:12

I wish you all a Blessed and Happy New Year

As we say goodbye to 2010 and welcome the New Year, we must humbly thank the Almighty God for the blessings received in the past year.  In short, it is a day to stop and take inventory on all the blessings that God has bestowed on us this past year.  Certainly, we owe thanks to god for having good family and friends, good health, good job and many other blessings.  God has given us a Church to go to so that we can worship God, meet, communicate and have fellowship with people of our faith and culture. It is not only our worldly possessions that we are to thank God for but for the little things that we take for granted such as gift of free air to breathe, gift of clean water or gift of electricity.  If you have your family and friends who are always ready to give you some good advice and shower you with love and care, do you know how lucky you are?

We are blessed today because we did not die yesterday and have been given another opportunity to make things better for us and for others and to correct the mistakes that we have made in the past. Do we go about in our daily lives with no regard for human life and without any knowledge of the value of this precious gift of life that God has freely given us?  Do we appreciate our gift of freedom as we make choices like when to wake up in the morning, when to sleep and when to eat and make important decisions on our own everyday without being locked up in a prison as a criminal or caged animal?  God has given us this gift of freedom in abundance but we tend to forget that it is a free gift from God and still prone to complaining.  In fact, whatever good and positive we possess in this world are God’s free gifts and the only things that we can claim as our own are our sins and shortcomings.  When we complain about anything, ultimately we are complaining about God.  We are not staying in His will and purpose for us and saying that God is wrong to have given us what we do not like.  How many people in this world today would happily trade places with us in the United States?  How many would love to live in a place with such freedom, modern conveniences and luxurious living that this country provides!  Reasons for not thanking God enough for His gifts are the many distractions in this world that keep us occupied and the ever-ending desire of wanting more and more of worldly possessions; in the end, we keep  complaining and feeling dissatisfied with ourselves. It doesn’t matter what we are going through in life today, how bad and hopeless things might seem right now, there is always one or more reasons to thank God or the Universe because no matter how bad the situation is right now, you know it could have been…worse?!!!

Thanking the One who may give all things would bring us greater blessings.  Romans verse 8:28 teaches that God is sovereign and everything that comes into our lives is from Him, is controlled by Him, and is intended by Him for our good.

Philippians 3: 13; Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. Once we thank God for all His blessings, we must try to take the life lessons that we learned from the past year through our successes, failures, trials and tribulations we faced and surmounted.  We should never be buried in our past and forget to live the present.  Learn to overcome the past pains and sorrow but live our life today with utmost courage and mental strength and look forward with divine hope for the future. The New Year offers us the chance to wipe the slate clean and start over once again. It is a time to set new goals and to make plans as to how we will meet those goals with God’s help.  It's hard to move forward without focusing on God.  Knowing the answers gives us hope and helps us find peace and joy.  This can be accomplished only when we are rooted in Christ, nourished by His Word and guided by the Holy Spirit.  As Christ Himself taught us in St. John Chapter 15 about the interdependence of the vine and the branches, we cannot exist on our own, bear fruits or be an effective Christian who equally loves God and His people unless we live in Christ. One thing that makes this life hard at times is that we are separated from God because of our sins and we're out of God's physical presence.

We might have challenges and tribulations lurking in the New Year.  As we face these trials may they be from home, work or Church, we must be comforted with the fact that God is holding us and spiritually reviving us in every step of our life.   As we go into the New Year may I remind you that what is impossible for man is possible for God, yes; “but with God all things are possible” (St. Matt. 19:26). Philippians 4:13 ascertains us that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.  My prayer for each one of us is that we begin this New Year focusing on making Christ-centered plans with a desire for what God wants to us to do and not what we want to do in our lives.  As God encourages to grow continually in Him He wants our relationship with the Lord be deepened and matured, our family is more God-loving and we love others as God loves us.  God reminds us that our involvement and commitment to our Church life has grown, our gifts and talents are used and we have a living testimony at work, where we shine God’s light and are true witnesses and ambassadors for Jesus Christ."

Once again I wish you a wonderful New Year!!!   May God continue to shower His blessings on us all and keep us healthy, and safe!!!