Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm.The LORD has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
A New Year has begun! So many plans for self-improvement! But what could use attention in our spiritual lives? For my part, I’d like to learn more from the lives of the saints. Their inspiring human stories remind me that the road we walk as Christians is a well-traveled one.
And I’m in luck: 2,000 years of Church history yields daily examples to nourish the soul. Of the two saints we honor today, I knew that Gregory of Nazianzen presided over the First Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381 AD, which completed the Nicene Creed we recite at mass each Sunday. St. Basil was a hermit called upon to be a bishop and help the Church through difficult times. Here’s something I didn’t know: the two men were best friends. How wonderful to recall that even the saints had friendships to support their faith journeys!
We have a duty as Christians to help and serve the poor. But some days, the place our attention is needed most is with a friend. Is there a friend who could use a New Year’s check-in today?
—Joe Kraemer, SJ, is a scholastic of the West Province currently in Regency in the Advancement Office at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California.
My friend Toni’s spiritual practice is to allow a word to surface prior to each new year. She prays for guidance for a word she hopes to “grow into,” a word that will bring her closer in her relationship with God, family and the wider world. She listens attentively to divine inspiration and allows the word to “choose her.”
In today’s first reading we hear “Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.” As we begin this new year, what have we heard? What is the word within that is beckoning … teasing … challenging us? The Word Who is Life, Light and Love invites us to incarnate life, light and love well beyond this Christmas season. Are we up to the task of listening and attuning ourselves to the Word in 2018?
As God’s dear children, confident and trusting, may we remain united in this Word Who is Life!
—Joe Kraemer, SJ, is a scholastic of the West Province currently in Regency in the Advancement Office at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California.
“Now, draw near, and from this pure and sacred book and in these God-inspired words find sustenance for your soul. Here you shall behold the ministers of truth proclaim the word of life in a voice that pierces through to very heaven itself.”
—A prayer of St. Gregory Nazianzen to be offered before reading Sacred Scripture
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Ignatian spirituality reminds us that God pursues us in the routines of our home and work life, and in the hopes and fears of life's challenges. The founder of the Jesuits, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, created the Spiritual Exercises to deepen our relationship with Christ and to move our contemplation into service. May this prayer site anchor your day and strengthen your resolve to remember what truly matters.
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