Dear sisters and brothers,
Our hearts are restless and bruised as we bid farewell to 2020 and gear up for 2021. Much has been said about 2020 as the darkest year of our lives for many reasons. Whether we concur with or dispute that statement, we can all agree that in the last nine months, our faith was deeply tested and our patience tried to a breaking point. Fear befell us all and despair invaded our minds and our hearts. The hundreds of thousands of lives we lost, the jobs that vanished and may never return, the redefinition of our human interactions due to the loss of physical connection, etc. have now become part of a legacy of the year that none of us wishes to relive ever again.
Nonetheless, as people of faith, we held fast to the belief that our God is good all the time, even in the darkest moments of our life. As we put this year in the rearview mirror, we are comforted and reassured by the glimmers of hope that fueled our joy for living and enabled us to hold each other in prayer in times of need. In the midst of this pandemic, some of us welcomed a new child while others sealed their love through the sacrament of holy matrimony; some started a new job while others wrapped up their long academic journeys. We were challenged and invited to a deep awakening of our consciousness to the anti-racism movement here at home and abroad; we watched and celebrated a race to develop an efficacious COVID-19 vaccine in breathtaking record time. Others celebrated a long sought after and finally achieved family reconciliation, a new home, an unexpected healing, and so much more. The author of the Book of Lamentations reminds us that “the LORD’s acts of mercy are not exhausted, his compassion is not spent; they are renewed each morning” (Lam 3, 22-23a).
With a renewed hope and unshakeable faith, we look to 2021 and trust in God who blesses us all. In our uncertainty about what the future may bring, we turn to Mother Mary who has taught us to surrender to God’s plan even as God’s mysterious ways confound or confuse us (Lk 1,38; 2,19.51) as we have seen this past year. Still, our confusion or doubts do not diminish God’s goodness towards us, God's children that we are blessed to be. Let’s therefore enter 2021 with confidence, faith and trust, praying with the psalmist that “God may have pity on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us” (Ps. 67, 2).
May God’s blessings of peace, joy, good health, success and prosperity come down upon us and remain with us this day and the days ahead!
Happy New Year 2021!
Fr. Maurice Mamba
Priest Administrator
