As a lifelong journal writer, New Year’s Eve is always a special time for me to pause and reflect on the past year. It helps me gain perspective, and prepare for a new beginning. 

As we start this last day of 2016, there is much to review. What a year it’s been. While full of good things, it also seems this was a hard year for many people. For me, it was particularly difficult, with no repose. It was a struggle to stay afloat at times. Even with hope strong in my core, buoyancy was tremendously challenging, and discouragement a temptation. This was especially true when I tried to figure it out alone, with the waves of my whole world crashing down on me. 

But, in a tough year like that, we have the chance to practice crucial skills: How to fight. How to be docile. How to endure. To not give up on the people we have been instructed to love. Life is no silver-screen movie, and no happy ending is promised. But we do know the Victor. It’s rigged—we skipped ahead and read the last chapter. Light wins. 

As a dear friend wrote me on Christmas, “God has come into the midst of our daily lives, to suffer with us, to comfort us, and to save us.”

The storms will come, the fires will rage, our hearts will be shattered. But, as we still stand, bloodied, bruised, and broken, unable to see anything but the darkness veiling our eyes, we actually are strongest and the most human. Because at the end of these battles, it is there: the light emitted from the embers. 

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

No matter how prevalent the darkness is, it cannot overcome. Take comfort in that. 

For many of us, 2016 was the year of the fight. Now, may our 2017 be the year of the light. 

May we ask this light fill our eyes each morning. 
May it overwhelm our hearts and put fire in our souls.
May it penetrate our thoughts and actions. 
May it shine through our smile, encouraging every single person we see. 
May our resistance be weakened. 
May we choose to be authentic, vulnerable, passionate. 
May we be humble enough to allow pure love to overtake us. 
May we banish all fear, doubts, insecurities, lies. 
May we seek silence, and listen for gentle whispers. 
May we be jovial and childlike. 
May we be simple. 
May we grasp to goodness and gratitude. 
May we be sweet, centered, and selfless. 
May we be brave and let our hearts be raw and beat freely. 
May we give wholly. 
May light be the breath we breathe and the song that we sing. 

Let us welcome this new year by stoking that burning ember. It will create bright light, one we should seek and cling to it every single day. It is there; it has not left us, and never will. Let us embark on 2017 with gladness and dancing. There are absolutely beautiful, life-giving things ahead. 

Siempre adelante. (always ahead)

Think back on your year of 2016. What were the good parts? What were the difficult parts? What have you learned, experienced, or grown in this past year?

As you begin 2017, what are the things you think the Lord might have in store for you? What beautiful ways can you already see that the Lord will work?

Amid difficulty for many of us, the reflection for today reminds us that there is ALWAYS hope to be found, that the Lord has already won the battle. How can you live out that reality more fully in your life? What can you do to live in the reality of Christ's victory more in this new year?

"The light shines in the darkness"

"The Lord comes with joy and dancing"

​"God saves us"

Before this new year is fully up and running, stop and give yourself time to reflect on the past year and ask the Lord for goodness in the new year. Make a resolution that will allow you to focus on His light, His victory, His goodness more each day of 2017.

Use the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again).
​
​"Hail St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, blessed above all saints on high..."

About three years ago, I studied abroad through my college in a small town in the mountains of Austria. One of my professors was a headstrong man from Scotland who had such a heart for St. Joseph. On the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, he walked into our classroom and sang us an old song about Joseph in his thick Scottish accent, and it has stuck with me these past three years.

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Family, and what a glorious feast it is. I always joke that one of the main reasons the Church celebrates so many feast days is merely because we Catholics love to party, and we sure know how to do it. But all joking aside, I want to take a few minutes today to reflect on St. Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus Himself.

In today's Gospel, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream telling him to go and take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, for a man named Herod is seeking to kill his son. Immediately Joseph rises from his dream and does what was requested of him. Years later, the angel again appears to him in a dream and tells him to take the child and mother back to Israel, and once again, Joseph responds in obedient, trusting, faith and does what is requested of him.

Personally, I don't think I give St. Joseph enough credit, but look at him in today's readings. So much was asked and expected of him, but how did he choose to respond under the pressure? He obeyed. He had faith. He may not have known the entirety of God's plan, but he knew that if he trusted in it and did what God was asking him to do, then everything would work out for his little Holy Family.

Mary, the Blessed Mother, was chosen among all woman to bear and be the Mother of Jesus the Son of God. Have you ever stopped to reflect on the fact that Joseph, too, must have been chosen? To be the guardian of God Himself on earth... now that seems like a colossal task to me! But Joseph fulfilled his fatherly duties. He cared for Mary and for Jesus and helped carry out God's plan for humanity. He was CHOSEN. 

When we look at our own families, it's so easy for us to focus on all the negative things. My sister and I can't stop comparing ourselves to each other, my dad always seems to let me down, the list goes on. Our families are certainly not perfect. And we certainly did not get to choose our families like the Holy Family was chosen. But just like the Holy Family, God specifically chose each member of our family to fulfill His will in a unique way.

On this beautiful feast, I want to give you a message of hope. Turn to St. Joseph. Think of how imperfect and unworthy he must have felt to be a part of that family. Whenever you may feel that your own family life is falling apart, ask for St. Joseph's guidance. Turn to him like a father, and let him show you how you can say yes to God's will. Know that you never alone, and that the Holy Family is always walking right beside you on your journey through life. 

I encourage you to reflect on these words from my dear Scottish professor's song as we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family today:

Dear St. Joseph, kind and loving,
Stretch to us a helping hand;
Guide us through life's toils and sorrows
Safely to the distant land.

These questions are to be used to talk to God; have a conversation with the Lord about these questions and what is going on in your heart as you pray today.

​How do you choose to respond when God asks big things of you? Do you obey and trust in His plan or do you resist and give into despair? 

How can you help to fulfill God's will in your own family?

How can you become more like St. Joseph in his faith and obedience to the Lord and in his love for the Holy Family?

In this step, you listen. Stop talking, let God speak to your heart. You may repeat one of these short phrases to focus your mind on the Lord.

​"Hail St. Joseph, spouse of Mary, blessed above all saints on high..."

"Guide us through life's toils and sorrows safely to the distant land."

"St. Joseph, pray for us."

In light of today's reading and your time spent in prayer with the Lord, what concrete action or actions will you take to let this encounter with Lord bear fruit in you today?

Take some time to pray to St. Joseph today. Maybe go back and meditate on the Gospel again, or pray with the words of the song at the end of the meditation. Ask St. Joseph to give you the strength and courage to follow God's will, especially in your own family.

As I read through the readings for today there were a lot of things that came to mind in the first reading and the Gospel, but the psalm really stood out to me. We are still in the Christmas Octave, which means every day is treated like a feast day. In fact, each day is still Christmas. We should be joyful, celebrating and proclaiming the greatness of God in a special way this week.

But what if it’s hard to be joyful? Maybe you don’t have the best family situation and this time of the year reminds you of that. Maybe you’re single and surrounded by all kinds of cute, happy couples enjoying the Christmas season and it kind of makes you heartbroken. Maybe you lost someone really close to you and miss them this during this time. Maybe you have finals coming up soon. The list of things that can steal our joy could go on and on.

But joy does not equal happiness. A lot of times happiness comes with joy, but true joy is similar to true love in that it is a choice. It is not always an easy choice, but we have the power each moment to choose to be joyful. I was listening to a podcast that said joy is the certain expectation of our heart’s desire. So if we have faith the God will fulfill the true desires of our hearts, we can be joyful in that expectation.

A beautiful aspect of the Church is that it gives us season for everything! Advent is a season of preparation, penance and anticipated waiting. Christmas is a time for joy and celebration! No matter what each of us is going through, we can all rejoice that God humbled himself and became a human. Think about it: God became a human purely out of love for you.

We will have another season (Easter) to focus on what Jesus’s Resurrection meant for our salvation, but Christmas is the season to rejoice that God became man. Jesus was a man “in all things but sin.” The God who made the heavens loved you so much that He wanted to take on our human nature and give you an example to live by.

If you are like me and sometimes let the problems of this world steal your joy, remember that this season of Christmas (which really just began on December 25th) truly is a time to rejoice. We rejoice not necessarily because everything is going great, but because we have a Great God who loves us and would do anything for us. God's love for us should bring us great joy.

What are some of the things thaat are on your heart this Christmas season? Is anything getting in the way for your joy? What is it? How can you give it over to our Lord?

What do you think is the difference between joy and happiness? How does Jesus promise us joy? 

Where can you find joy in God's love for you?

"Joy, not happiness." 

"Joy to the world!"

"Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!"

Find joy today. Say a specail prayer asking God to bring joy to wherever in your life you are struggling. 

​Imagine the horror and shock the families of Bethlehem experienced in today's Gospel. Herod's troops stormed the small town and killed every boy two years old and younger. Those families received no warning, no explanation, no apology. Their homes were suddenly invaded and their sons slaughtered.

Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, those young children who were killed. But what really happened that day, and why would the Church make us remember such a tragedy just days after the joy of Christmas?

The magi were the ones who presented gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Child Jesus. They "read" the stars and knew the prophecies, and they told Herod about it. Herod acted like he was happy about it, but he feared that this Child would one day grow up and threaten his power. So Herod told the magi to notify him when they had found the Child. But the magi did no such thing, and Herod knew something was up when he never heard back from them. In a panic, Herod sent his troops to take care of the problem. It had been a while since the magi had left. So he ordered that all the boys two years old and younger be killed in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. This way he could be assured that the Child was destroyed. Of course, Herod didn't know that Joseph had already been warned by an angel in a dream to flee with Mary and Jesus. Many young children were murdered that day in Herod's desperate attempt to destroy the Child Jesus.

This doesn't seem to fit the mood of Christmas, does it? What's the deal, Catholic Church? Well, two days ago -- the day after Christmas -- we celebrated the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen. And today's Feast of the Holy Innocents also recognizes those children as martyrs. Think about it: they might have been the very first people to die for Jesus Christ. Even though they didn't know it, they were part of God's amazing plan of salvation for the world. This doesn't lessen the tragedy. But they, like every martyr, remind us about some things we tend to forget. One great lesson (among many) we can learn from our friends, the Holy Innocents, is that nothing can ultimately stand in the way of God's will. He wanted to save the world, and no one was going to stop Him. Not Herod, not any king or ruler, no worldly power, not the devil himself. Even a tragedy like the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents will not stop God's plan. Jesus took on human flesh for our sake, taking the form of a fragile child. The devil implemented his tactic of violence and death, throwing all the "power" he had at Jesus, and he couldn't even kill this one vulnerable little Baby. Rejoice! The Holy Innocents are singing and dancing in heaven right now! Jesus came down from heaven as a Baby, and He accomplished the Father's will! Our salvation is here, and there is NOTHING that can stand in His way!

​The Holy Innocents died for Jesus, to help Him accomplish the Father's will. How far are you willing to go this Christmas to let the Lord accomplish His will in YOUR life?

How far ARE you willing to go this Christmas to let the Lord accomplish His will in your life? What do you think He might be calling you to do or sacrifice for Him?

When we abuse or misuse power, bad things can happen. What power and influence has the Lord entrusted you with? Do you use it properly and for Him? 

Do you trust in God's plan for your life? What can you do to let go and trust Him a little more this Christmas seanson?

"God has a plan for me."

"Jesus, I trust in You."

"Lead me, Lord."

Take a look at your life and think about the times you have trusted the Lord, or been to afraid to let go and let Him reign. After prayer and contemplation, make a concrete plan of ways you can let go and trust the Lord in your life more.