NEW YEAR’S EVE 2018
YEAR OF THE YOUTH
DECEMBER 31, 2018
Jesus, I trust in you!
It is the last day of 2018 and as
the clock moves slowly towards midnight, people all over the world will be
engaging in countdowns. There is revelry everywhere because there is something
about the passing of one year to another that captures the excitement of
people. Of course, we are celebrating something that is secular because the
transition involved civil years. That is why the celebration all over the world
has a worldly, secular character. People will be dining and dancing the night
away on to a new year.
But for us who follow Christ, tonight’s
countdown has a special significance. It reminds us of the way we look at time
with the eyes of faith. To us, history is not just a meaningless cycle of
events but a journey from a definite point of time to another definite point.
History is the human journey from Creation to the end of all time, the second
coming of Christ. And at the center of this human historical journey is Christ,
the Lord of history, the Lord of time. That is why we divide history into two:
BC (Before Christ) and AD (the year of the Lord). Pope John Paul II, in the
celebration of the great Jubilee Year 2000, made us aware of this once again:
the birth of Christ is the center of all human history. The Incarnation is the
definitive entrance of God into human history and this momentous event changed
the course of man. Before he came, all of us were on the way to perdition. But
God entered history, the Eternal One entered time and space, in order to change
that course. He has put a stop to this slippery descent of man and brought it
to a path of redemption. Being born in time, Jesus transforms it. No longer is
time a countdown to punishment. Through Jesus, time has become a countdown to
redemption. That is why at the beginning of Advent, the Lord bids us to stand
erect and raise our heads, for our redemption is at hand.
And that is why we count time. We
pray the Psalm: “Lord, teach us to number our days aright, so that we may gain
wisdom of heart.” (Ps. 90:12) We ask for the grace to number our days aright.
Yes, we number our days because our days are numbered. Time for us is not an
unlimited commodity. It is something given to us in a limited way. As I have
told you in the past, every year, every month, every week, every day, every
hour, every minute, every second that passes brings us closer to the end…and
that end is not something dismal, but something we long for because this end is
our grand meeting with Jesus who will return in glory. The limited time given
to us is a time of grace and mercy, an opportunity offered by the Lord to us to
work out our earthly life in keeping with his divine plan and decide our
ultimate destiny. (CCC, 1013) And this time which keeps going forward will
never return. Once it passes, it is gone forever. There is no replay. There is
no take two. You miss it…move on to the next. And remember, it is running
forward faster than you think. This is why we must take advantage of every
second, every minute to advance in grace and holiness. St. John Bosco said, “Do
good while you still have time.” Yesterday, we saw Jesus advance in wisdom, age
and favor before God and men. As 2018 is passing, can we truly say that we have
advanced? Surely, we have advanced in age. We have become a year older
definitely…and nothing can stop this. But have we advanced in wisdom? Did we
learn from our mistakes? Have we become more understanding and more loving?
Have we matured in thought and action? Have we become more discerning of the
ways of the Lord? Or are we still gullible to the devil’s deceptions? Have we
advanced in favor before God and men? Have we become more pleasing to God? Have
we become more respectable before others? Am I a better person today than last
year? Am I holier now than before?
Tonight is the time to sit in
silence and reflect before God. How much time I wasted tinkering my gadgets and
missing out on the people around me, the people who love me? How many
opportunities to deepen my relationship with God have I wasted? How many
opportunities for love and communion have I passed? For this, let us beg
forgiveness. Lord, I can never take back the time passed. I am sorry.
Tonight is the time to sit before
the Lord and ask him: Lord, how can I rectify my ways? How can I make up for
lost time? How can I do better? This is what Resolutions are all about. Make
your resolutions and seriously take them to heart. Do not immediately abandon
them because you do not know if you will still be here next year. Make every
second count and you will be wiser. “Lord, teach us to number our days aright,
so that we may gain wisdom of heart.”
O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee!
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