Dear Friends:
With this last day of December, we come to the end of yet another civil year. The year 2023 has passed and the year 2024 lies ahead of us, filled with uncertainties, yes, but also filled with possibilities. What has 2023 been like for you, and what are your hopes for the year ahead? These are important questions to consider and to ponder, especially in prayer before God.
The end of a year is often a melancholic, mixed-feelings time. We often look back over the past twelve months and remember both the good and the bad. We can become wistful when we remember those we loved and who were taken from us and are with us no longer. We can reflect on the difficulties and the challenges that presented themselves to us during the year, be they health challenges, financial or career challenges, relationship challenges or something else. The end of a year can be a depressing time for many. One way we can counteract that is to stop and consider carefully,count carefully, the blessings that came our way. If we are at all honest about it, we have been blessed and abundantly so, even if it just being able to live through a stretch of 365 days and to be able to reflect on it. Count your blessings and say a heartfelt “thank you” to God. Hold up before God your hopes, your dreams and your desires for the coming year and also hold up before God the sorrows, the pains and the burdens of the past year. In doing so, we will remember that we are not alone, that we are never alone, never abandoned to face life with all of its ups and downs and joys and sorrows. The timeless Lord of eternity has made a solemn promise to remain with us always, and God always keeps his promises.
Every December 31, the Holy Father has the custom of presiding at a service of Solemn Vespers [Evening Prayer] in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. This service of prayer affords those in attendance to bring the civil year to a proper close, commending it with all of its blessings and burdens to God, asking God for blessings on the year ahead. The service includes the solemn chanting of the Te Deum (in Latin). I include it here for your reflection and suggest that you make use of it in your evening or night prayers this New Year’s Eve:
TE DEUM
You are God: we praise you;
you are the Lord: we acclaim you;
you are the eternal Father:
all creation worships you.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory,
The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world, the holy Church acclaims you:
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free
you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death,
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come, and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.