Finally, brothers, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Corinthians 13:11 NABRE)
What a year it's been! God most certainly does act in our lives, so let's celebrate that truth and the great gift of awareness which we have been given!
Lord, thank you for 2014. As I recall the many moments and memories it holds for me personally, gratitude overwhelms me. I am grateful beyond words for all you have done for me, for my health and my family, for my friends and my work, for all those who share with me in this daily prayer time, and most of all for the relationship you have always fostered with me, even when I lost track of you.
Thank you my Lord, for the challenges and struggles you allowed me to face this year. By each of them, I have seen your strength in my weakness.
And honestly, thank you for the countless moments of reinforcement in my faith this year, the many times I've shared my thoughts here with shaky human confidence, only to hear your echo bounce back to me later the same day, most often in the words of others, validating my thoughts, confirming that my worry was without foundation, and reminding me that we travel this life together. Jesus, I trust in you.
To my family--for whom I share this bit of myself each morning, thank you for your encouragement and support all year. You'll never know what it's meant to me. I hope starting each morning together with the Lord has been as much of an encouragement to you as it has been to me!
To my brothers and sisters in faith, to my friends, to others of good will who have found a welcome word or two here, to you who joins us each morning in prayer, to each one of you who perhaps has found here echoes of God's loving reinforcement of your own personal faith journey--for whom I offer this daily prayer, thank you. Your presence here and your prayers have encouraged me in ways you cannot know and for which I am grateful. Know that the grace of God, by your encouragement and support, has at times kept me going through times of doubt and dryness. Know, too, that you are in my personal prayers each day.
May you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in the new year. May you feel the love of God in 2015. And may you experience the fellowship of the holy Spirit each day. I look forward to starting each new day of the new year with you and with our God.
Today, I will remember how blessed I am so that I can be a blessing to others.
Saint Sylvester I, whose life is a reminder that true leadership requires humility and courage, pray for us.
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