Here are a few questions to guide us in a scale of 1 to 10:
* Where was I in my relationship with God?
* What do I need to do to improve on this relationship or to sustain it?
* Did I have time for God? Did I listen to his word?
* Where was I in my social life? My relationship with other persons?
* Where was I in my family?
* Where was I in the society?
* What must I do to sustain or make better this relation?
The Hard facts: many began this year with us on January 2013 but some are not here today because they have passed on, others are confined to hospital wards and other places including solitary confinement - but we are here today. This is not due to any single effort of ours neither is it by our might and wealth; it is by the special grace of God. So I say congratulations for cooperating with the grace of God and coming this far and looking beyond.
So if we are alive today and healthy, not by our efforts, then we owe a debt of gratitude to the Almighty God through whose grace we are counted among the living and not among the dead. Our gratitude needs to be expressed in an attitude of thanksgiving and the best form of thanksgiving is the Eucharist in which we gather to remember and to give thanks. The psalmists tell us “Never forget the wonders the Lord the Lord has done for us.” and in another place he says “How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me? The Chalice of salvation I will raise and call on the Lord’s name. “
When we attend Sunday mass, it is not in compliance with the commandments; neither is it to fulfill all righteousness but it is to remember and give thanks to God who is due to receive thanks from us like the psalmist again says “To you our praise is due in Zion O God”, and also it affords us the opportunity to begin our new week with Jesus who lightens our burdens when we our overburdened.
The apostle Peter went fishing and fished all night and caught nothing, because he was alone and worked by his own effort alone but when the Lord joined him, he netted a huge catch that his boat wasn’t enough to
accommodate his huge catch, even though it was an unlikely time of the day to fish. So as we reflect on 2013, I invite you to make frequent mass attendance your resolution for 2014 so that like Peter we will net a huge catch in our faith, family, and in our jobs.
As we take a cursory look at 2013, we remember with a sense of gratitude all our beloved wonderful and loving sweet parishioners for your support and cooperation through this year. We thank you all immensely. We express our sentiments of gratitude to all our volunteers who are a priceless gift to the parish as we invite you all to a volunteer Thanksgiving Mass on Tuesday 31st December 2013 at 5pm and a party to follow after the mass. May I also invite all of you to the masses for the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God and New Year’s Day Mass on 1st January 2014 at 7:30 am and 9:30 am. What a sweet way to begin the year. May God bless you all and happy new year.
Fr. Theo Hwande
