By Sr. Doreen, SSJD.
The Canadian Church Calendar this year has chosen for its theme ‘Pathways’ and begins the New Year in January with the following quote:
“You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (psalm 16:11)
January is named after the Roman god Janus. He is described as having two faces so he could see the future and the past and is symbolic of beginnings and endings, as well as gates and doorways. Some comments about January:
- “January is the beginning of anything you want.”
- “Every day is a new beginning, but there’s something especially magical about January.”
- “This January, take it day by day, goal by goal, and you’ll be amazed by how far you’ve come.”
- January is known to be the coldest month in the Northern Hemisphere and the warmest in the Southern Hemisphere
All these thoughts gave me a ‘banquet’ for pondering the eleventh verse of psalm 16. To match these ideas January is a month rich with celebrations that gives us opportunities for pondering our own pathway ahead. This year also is a very special year – it is now true that we are ¼ of the way through the 21st century – an awesome thought! It is also a jubilee year, the 25th year a time when we acknowledge that it was intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields. Quoting the prophet Isaiah, the Gospel of Luke describes Jesus’ mission in this way: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord,” (Luke 4:18-19; cf. Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus lives out these words in his daily life, in his encounters with others, and in his relationships, all of which bring about liberation and conversion.
Added to these thoughts about this year ushering in both important and unique opportunities, it is also a combination of many celebrations: New Year’s Day and the feast of the Naming of Jesus, the Epiphany, Holy Innocents Day, the Baptism of Jesus, the Feast of the Confession of St Peter which begins the week of prayer for Christian unity, and near the end of the Month the Feast of the Conversation of St. Paul which ends the week of prayer for Christian unity. These big feasts and many similar or simple occasions make up the month of January.
In a very real sense when I look at the Message translation of Psalm 16 my desire to enter God’s pathway ahead as the New Year begins takes on a very personal quest. January is the perfect time to reset, recharge, and renew my focus on what truly matters.
“Keep me safe, O God. I’ve run for dear life to you. I say to God, ‘Be my Lord!’ without you nothing makes sense.
And these God-chosen lives all around – what splendid friends they make!
Don’t just go shopping for a god. Gods are not for sale. I swear I’ll never treat go-names like brand-names.
My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I’m your choice! You set me up with a house and yard. And then you made me your heir!
The wise counsel God gives when I’m awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. Day and night I’ll stick with God, I’ve got a good thing going and I’m not letting go.
I’m happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I’m firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell – that’s not my destination.
Now you’ve got me feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I’m on the right way.”
As I pondered all these events, within my own prayer of “Show me the path of life’ I thought of the prayer attributed to St. Benedict that I use so often: “Gracious and holy God, give me wisdom to perceive you, intelligence to understand you, diligence to seek you, patience to wait for you, eyes to behold you, a heart to meditate on you, and a life to proclaim you; through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ our lord. Amen”
It is when we make up our own god’s: (I want, I don’t like, I envy, I wish ….) that it complicates our lives, and I find that it is an ongoing task to self-simplify in the midst of all the obstructing complexities of life. What a rich opportunity the Church Calendar places before us in choosing the theme pathways! 2025 pathway opens us up to the cornucopia of meanings and choices in this jubilee year. How miraculously simple and how profoundly difficult is our choice as expressed in the psalm – “my choice is you, God, first and only! Ever since you took my hand, I’m on the right way.”
It is so aptly expressed in the following song:
Take My Hand Precious Lord
Song by Jim Reeves
When my way groweth drear Precious Lord, linger near
When my light is almost gone hear my cry, hear my call
Hold my hand lest I fall. Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me on. Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand I am tired, I’m weak, I am worn
Through the storm, through the night lead me on to the light
Take my hand, precious Lord. Lead me home
When my work is all done and my race here is are run
Let me see by the light Thou hast shown
That fair city so bright where the lantern is the light
Take my hand, precious Lord lead me on
Precious Lord, take my hand lead me on, let me stand
I am tired, I’m weak, I am worn. Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me home
(Source: LyricFind: Songwriters: Thomas A. Dorsey. Take My Hand Precious Lord lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc)
As we begin the new year, celebrating a jubilee year, as we mark the naming of Jesus and knowing that God shows us the path of life, and that in God’s presence there is fullness of joy – that in God’s hand there are pleasures for evermore, that we are the beloved of God who is well pleased with us – may we choose the miraculously simple and profoundly difficult choice: you, God, first and only! Ever since you took my hand, I’m on the right way. Oh, put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water. Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea. Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee.
Bless to us this year and make us a blessing for all the world!
