"Nunc Coepi" and the New Year
Happy New Year! Sorry for not posting for a long time, but as always things have been busy. Thankfully I made it through last semester, and looking back, while I know that there was some good in it, for the most part I am left feeling as if it has been the hardest and most stressful one I've had. So hard and difficult, in fact, that I was actually dreading going back to school, and thinking to myself that I couldn't do another semester like the one I just had again. After talking about it with my parents and praying about it, I made changes to my class schedule and have also identified areas where I overcommitted myself last semester, deciding that there are some things that I am going to have to give up in order to be less stressed, overcommitted, and generally more happy this upcoming semester. I definitely feel more peace about everything, and I no longer dread returning. I even hope to be able to attend once again the cultural and musical events that I was able to attend my freshman year, and I also possibly a few of the planetarium shows that my university puts on on weekends. I am definitely looking forward to this new semester, and for everything that God has in store for me, which brings me to the main point of this post. Today, on the traditional feast of the Epiphany (even though I am posting this on the 7th, it was still the 6th when I was writing it ;)) we read that after offering the Child Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the Magi "departed for their country by another way" (Matthew 2:12). Claire from the blog Finding Philothea (a blog I cannot recommend enough!) posted this on her Instagram story on Sunday, and I wanted to share it with you all:
"Once we encounter Jesus, the moment we present ourselves to Him, we are forever changed. We can't go back to our former way of living - we go 'another way.' Let Christ change our hearts today, ask Him to show us the way, to guide us along the right path!"
This struck me, and it made me think of the homily that the visiting priest at my home parish gave this past Saturday evening. He said that Epiphany is the perfect way to enter Ordinary Time because it is about Christ revealing Himself as the Savior not only of the Jews, but of the Gentiles as well. That is, you and me. What He has made manifest to us at Christmas, we must now begin to put into practice during Ordinary Time. Yet what has He manifested to us? "That God so loved the world, as to give His Only Begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not His Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him" (John 3:16-17). Therefore, we must put off the old and put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-24). We must, like the Magi, depart by another way. And that new way is none other than Jesus Himself. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). However, as I read about from Good Catholic's Nunc Coepi ("Now I Begin"), choosing to follow Christ and thus depart from our old life is not a one-time decision we make, but a constant renewal. We are human, and while this shouldn't be an excuse, it also should not be taken to mean that we are already supposed to be perfect. What it does mean, though, is that we should be trying. We should be trying to constantly strive to "be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). We must constantly begin again (Nunc Coepi, Day 1). And our God is so merciful as to provide us ways to do that, especially in the Sacrament of Reconcilation (Nunc Coepi, Day 1). And so, despite the challenges of last semester, or last year, or even yesterday, as Venerable Bruno Lanteri said:
"I will not allow myself to be discouraged, however I may fall. If God is for me, who can be against me? Though I fall a thousand times, each, even the thousandth, I will rise again as peacefully as if it were the first, knowing my weakness and knowing, Lord, your great mercy."
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.
P.S. The Nunc Coepi devotional series from Good Catholic is free and is only seven days long! However, if you sign up for it, you can access it all year! Here is the link if you are interested: www.goodcatholic.com/about-nunc-coepi.tr
"Once we encounter Jesus, the moment we present ourselves to Him, we are forever changed. We can't go back to our former way of living - we go 'another way.' Let Christ change our hearts today, ask Him to show us the way, to guide us along the right path!"
This struck me, and it made me think of the homily that the visiting priest at my home parish gave this past Saturday evening. He said that Epiphany is the perfect way to enter Ordinary Time because it is about Christ revealing Himself as the Savior not only of the Jews, but of the Gentiles as well. That is, you and me. What He has made manifest to us at Christmas, we must now begin to put into practice during Ordinary Time. Yet what has He manifested to us? "That God so loved the world, as to give His Only Begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not His Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him" (John 3:16-17). Therefore, we must put off the old and put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-24). We must, like the Magi, depart by another way. And that new way is none other than Jesus Himself. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). However, as I read about from Good Catholic's Nunc Coepi ("Now I Begin"), choosing to follow Christ and thus depart from our old life is not a one-time decision we make, but a constant renewal. We are human, and while this shouldn't be an excuse, it also should not be taken to mean that we are already supposed to be perfect. What it does mean, though, is that we should be trying. We should be trying to constantly strive to "be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). We must constantly begin again (Nunc Coepi, Day 1). And our God is so merciful as to provide us ways to do that, especially in the Sacrament of Reconcilation (Nunc Coepi, Day 1). And so, despite the challenges of last semester, or last year, or even yesterday, as Venerable Bruno Lanteri said:
"I will not allow myself to be discouraged, however I may fall. If God is for me, who can be against me? Though I fall a thousand times, each, even the thousandth, I will rise again as peacefully as if it were the first, knowing my weakness and knowing, Lord, your great mercy."
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.
P.S. The Nunc Coepi devotional series from Good Catholic is free and is only seven days long! However, if you sign up for it, you can access it all year! Here is the link if you are interested: www.goodcatholic.com/about-nunc-coepi.tr
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