Inbox Inspiration: Living the New Year: January 9 - January 16, 2019

January 9, 2019

Living the New Year - 1

Dear Friends,
Right now is the time.
Today is the time we have.
Today is the time to live and pour ourselves into the project of life.
There is little point to regretting the past.
Our if onlys are often a waste of energy.
If only I had done this or if only that had happened – on and on it can go.
These if onlys may benefit us only if they instruct us on how to live today more fully.
There is also little point to worrying about the future.
Our what ifs are also often a waste of energy.
What if I lose my job or what if the MRI comes back bad – on and on it can go.
These what ifs may benefit us only if they motivate us in the here and now.
So, let’s invest ourselves in today, right now –
this is where to put the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energies and gifts that God has given us.
Resolve each morning to live the day with this approach.
That will be a good daily and a good New Year’s resolution.

“Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season.  It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year.  It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow.  Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime.”

From Three African-American Classicsby W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963. American sociologist, civil rights activist, and author).

[More on Living the New Year in next week’s Inbox Inspirations, January 16, 2019.]

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January 16, 2019

Living the New Year - 2

Dear Friends, 
I recommend that each morning we offer our day to God.
When I was a child, I was taught a Morning Offering prayer.
We had to memorize it and then we were to pray it at the start of every day.
I prayed that prayer from my childhood for decades, including for many years as a priest.
Then, I saw some other prayer models for a Morning Offering.
I decided to adopt one that seemed better suited to where I am spiritually today.
I have memorized this and now pray it every morning.
So, I encourage you to do the same.
I am giving an example of such a prayer below.
Praying a Morning Offering that you have learned or one in your own words helps to begin and center the entire day on God.
That, in turn, will help us in Living the New Year very well.

“God, my friend, I offer you this day.
Let all my prayer, work, joy, suffering today
join with the lives offered to you
by the whole People of God
and especially with our great Eucharist, Jesus, 
your Son and our Brother.
Let your Spirit be with me today, especially in …
And I ask your loving concern today, especially for my friend…
Remind me, through the day, that I am not alone. 
Amen.”

From Daily Prayers for Busy People by William J. O’Malley, S.J. (1931—. American Jesuit priest, professor of theology and English, actor, author).

[More on Living the New Year in last week’s Inbox Inspirations, January 9, 2019.]

May the light of Christ deepen our faith, strengthen our hope, and inspire our love throughout this new year.
Father Michael Schleupner