Hope and Gratitude for the New Year
Happy New Year
What a blessing to be around to see the dawn of this New Year. I have great hope for 2009. I thank God for the marvelous gift of life. I simply cannot take this gift of life for granted. A goodly number of our sisters and brothers and neighbors have died in 2008, and here we are still breathing God’s precious air and seeing the beauty of the Bay Area for another year. I thank God to have such a wonderful cadre of friends and fellow worshipers in St. John’s. Too many people do not belong to any worshiping community, and that thought saddens my heart. We desperately need Jesus in our lives, especially in this New Year. I thank God for our new president elect, Barack Obama, and his plan of hope for a very, very troubled country and even more troubled world. God is good, and we are fantastically blessed to see this New Year.
In the scripture today, we hear the story of the Magi, or Three Kings, who brought gifts and homage to the Christ Child. Gift-giving has been a tradition ever since we first heard this Gospel. I am so thankful for the many cards, letters and gifts that I received from so many people. What a great tradition of sharing. One very personal note: my sister Bobbye asked her family to cut back on their gift-giving and form a fund for Haiti. They collected $1500 to build a house in Haiti, and I have send this money to Sister Denise to start the building. How thoughtful and how much in keeping with the Gospel and what a good example for me and for you!
Happy New Year,
Fr. John Maxwell
