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Resolution not resolutions needed!
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Resolution not resolutions needed!
At Christmas, a glance at the any crib or nativity scene tells us something obvious. It is as if Mary displays her son to the world and says ??Here you are. Follow Him!? - a very simple demonstration of where our true peace is.
2006 lies before us. What have we learned in 2005 and before to help us along? It is a question I ask all the time. Religious lessons are not universally understood, Christian ones rather less. We do have our critics! However, as some one pointed out many years ago to me, ??The time to worry is when you don??t have any critics.? What we have to learn to do is to filter out justified criticism, from that which stems from jealousy and misunderstanding.
The key to Christinaity is simple: a vision which points all the time to Jesus, to conversion, and to following His teaching. The Christian vision points to Jesus and His conduct not to ourselves and our conduct. Our critics rarely seem to see this. For instance we do not put Mary or the saints before Jesus, nor do we treat them as some kind of demi-gods and goddesses. Their place today is the same as it is in the New Testament, witnessing to her son. In Epiphany we remember Mary??s words to the stewards at the wedding in Cana: ??Do whatever he tells you.? Church members are stewards of the Gospel to show it to the world. Mary??s words still apply!
It is difficult to accept honest criticism. When doing so we should be candid as to where we feel it is mistaken. Jesus is the King of Peace. If we are to carry him to our critics, we must be peaceable too! It is not always easy. Before the priest or minister carries the King of Peace to us in the sacrament of Holy Communion, the prayer of consecration reminds us of the huge cost to Jesus for bringing it - nothing less than his life! Of course the world has not yet accepted the message of peace brought through the coming of Jesus. Our newspapers, radios, and TV screens are full of wars, and murders, and character assassinations. We are asked always, not just this Christmas and New Year of 2005-2006, to accept the Blessing of Christ??s presence which was brought into the world through Our Lady as she gave birth to Jesus so many years ago in Bethlehem.
The message this New Year is very simple. We are to be reminded that we are to follow Jesus, and accept both the blessings brought by him and the cost of them in his life and our own! This will require some nerve and a great deal of resolution. It is wise to make it our only resolution. The reason I assert this is that following a path is more exciting than reading the sign-posts. Too many New Year??s resolutions are like sign-posts to problems. They fix our minds on something. Read the sign-post saying ??Follow this path? and life becomes a series of new adventures and discoveries along the way.
So then, to every reader, my New Year??s greeting is ??Make one Resolution to follow your path more closely and sincerely.?
Every Blessing to every reader!
Ted Baty
Camberley Medjugorje Centre, 25 Martindale Avenue, Heatherside, Camberley,
Surrey. UK. GU15 1BB.Telephone: (UK +44) (0)1276 20315
E-mail: e.baty@ntlworld.com
Website: http://www.spiritual-renewal.com
The Reverend Doctor Edward Baty, IMM, and Mrs. Hannelore Baty, Directors
