A Good Ending and a Good Beginning

"Best wishes for a good ending and a good beginning and may you start the year with the peace of the Lord." - Pier Giorgio Frassati to his mother, December 25, 1921

A close friend of mine made me laugh today with her plans for ending 2020 and beginning 2021.  "I plan to stuff myself these last few days as I have been doing this entire Christmas season and then, like everyone else, get serious on January 2nd."  She lamented that her clothes had already gotten tight from holiday binging but confessed that she had thrown in the self-control towel and was just going to start fresh in a few days. 

She certainly isn't the only one who is tired of fighting 2020 and looking forward to flipping the calendar to 2021.  The year has challenged us mentally, physically, financially and, most consequentially, spiritually.  Although there hasn't been a whole lot of optimism about what the new year may bring, everyone seems more than ready to stick a fork in this one and hope things will somehow be better in the next.

Still, Pier Giorgio wouldn't have us wave the white flag of surrender even to a year as stressful as 2020.  He wants us to live and not exist, remember?  For him, ending the year well was just as important as beginning the year well.  This was a sentiment he regularly expressed in letters he wrote to family and friends in late December.   

No matter what we have faced these past 12 months, we can finish strong by persevering in faith and spending the final moments of 2020 in gratitude for the blessings we have received.  At times, our blessings come by way of disguise.  We still may not recognize some as they may be cloaked in sorrow and loss and uncertainty.  But they are there.  Contemplating blessings and giving thanks for them is one good way to end the year well.  

When the calendar turns over at midnight, some things definitely will not change.  God will still be sustaining us with His mighty right hand. We will still be loved. We will still be wanted. We will still be His. We will still be here.  We need not be so afraid of dying that we forget how to go about the business of living.  God does not abandon.

To begin the year well, then, hold onto the Lord. Cling tightly to the true Church with all your strength. Draw close to St. Joseph in this special year dedicated to him. Hide under the mantle of Our Lady when things get difficult. Stay close to the Sacraments. Make every effort to get to Mass as often as you can. Pray. Trust. Hope. Believe. Fast. Sacrifice. Give alms. Be happy. Be grateful. Live.

And if you need to stuff yourself for the next day or so, that's okay, too.  :)

Blessed Pier Giorgio, pray for us to end well and begin well with the peace of the Lord.

Verso l'alto!  ///cmw