NEW YEAR, NEW DREAMS, NEW OPPORTUNITIES— A REFLECTION By Ann Marie Dodd

New Year, New Dreams, New Opportunities!
Advent and Christmas are rich celebrations in our lives. We prepare and we celebrate the incarnation; Jesus is born in us AGAIN! I often reflect on how that time in our church’s “calendar” provides us with starting again as the new year comes in. I have often started the new year thinking about resolutions, what will this year bring, and all kinds of thoughts like that. However, this year I was graced to sit each week in Advent reflecting on Hope and Light. I enter this new year filled with hope and the light of Christ to guide me. I am continuing this prayer and meditation into the new year – Hope & Light.
This came to me as I was reminded of a quote from Pope Francis: “Hope opens new horizons, making us capable of dreaming what is not even imaginable”.
I have no idea what this year will bring, wisdom has brought this new thinking into my mind and placed it on my heart so I can enter without expectations except one … my hope is in the One who always loves me and will always surprise me.
What about you? What does the New Year bring for you? How to you enter this new year; with resolutions, hopes, dreams? Can you be open to what God has in store for you?
I pose this question: what are the desires of your heart? OR … what is God’s desire for you?
As we begin a new year, perhaps you can take a moment to pray for God to reveal to you something he’d like you to meditate on in the coming year. What does God want you to learn? And where does he want you to grow?
Is there a word He’s putting on your heart in this new year?
I wish you peace on your journey into this new year, full of opportunities and surprises.
De Colores, Ann Marie