Happy New Year!

And then our courteous lord shews himself to the soul merrily and with the happiest possible expression, with friendly welcoming, as if it had been in pain and in prison, saying thus: “My dear darling, I am glad that thou art come to me. In all thy woe I have ever been with thee, and now see for yourself my love, and let us be oned in bliss.” Thus are sins forgiven by grace and mercy, and our soul honorably received in joy, exactly as it shall be when it comes into heaven, as often as it comes back to God by the gracious werking of the holy ghost and the power of Christ’s passion (Julian’s Gospel, p. 428).

What a joyous way to think of entering the New Year – with the Lord greeting us most “merrily” and with “friendly welcoming” in all that is to be in 2014! Each one of us is, in truth, God’s darling, though we may not often feel like it. But that’s not God’s fault. It’s because we become so overwhelmed by life’s demands and distractions, by hurts and pain and rejection and daily disappointment, and also by the unending pursuit of our own agenda, that we don’t make the time to sit still – really still in meditation – and allow God to love and embrace us, deep within our souls.

What Julian reminds us of again and again throughout her Revelations, is that Christ is ever waiting for us, full of  “love-longing” and peace. He is ready to comfort us, to forgive, to heal, to guide, to reassure, to enfold us into his Sacred Heart. We have only to run to him the way children do – both when they’re excited and full of joy and gratitude, and when they’ve fallen and gotten badly hurt by life. Then he will take full care of us, as the most tender Mother does, rejoicing with us or helping us back on our way. For strong and marvelous is that love which may not, nor will not, be broken for trespass (p. 528).

Indeed, as Julian understood so clearly: The blessed wounds of our savior are open and rejoice to heal us. The sweet, gracious hands of our mother are ready and diligent about us (p. 532). Christ is the consummate prodigal mother, always standing at the top of the hill, looking afar off, waiting for her children to come home (Lk 15:20). And we may “come home” every day, when we shut the door of our busy lives for a while in silent meditation and simply rest in his presence.

I wish you Christ’s blessings and love this New Year. And may Julian’s inspired Revelations guide and strengthen you on your path. And give you peace.

And, to greet the New Year, I invite you all to visit my newly created website: www.onethousandactsofpeace.org to discover a simple but powerful way to bring greater peace into your own lives and into the lives of your family members, your community, your country, and yes, into the whole world in 2014.

Happy New Year!