Looking Forward, Looking Back

Web Posted: Jan. 4, 2004

When Pope John II was in better health, he would go to the Jesuit Church (Gesu) in Rome to participate in a prayer service on New Year's Eve. In the course of the service he would join others in singing the ancient hymn called the Te Deum. It is a song of praise and gratitude to God. The Christian stance, then, on New Year's Eve, is gratitude to God for the past year.

If we have not as yet recalled the blessings of 2004, it is never too late to do so in these beginning days of 2005. However, there are those amongst us who are thankful that 2004 is past history. Some have lost a loved one; others have suffered a serious illness; a family might have split up; a son or daughter was sent to Iraq; or the year had its hardships. Whether 2004 finished with fullness or emptiness, the New Year invites us to embrace hope.

Hope looks to the future. "The best is yet to come." Hope gives us confidence. This confidence is rooted in God’s steadfast love. And God’s steadfast love is manifested in the love of our family and friends. So we have the blessed assurance that no matter what 2005 holds for us, we can have hope that it will be a good year because God and others will be with us and see us through.

Doug Leonhardt, S.J.
Office of Mission & Identity