How do you welcome in the New Year?
The lecture explains that welcoming a new year should not merely be a celebration of the beginning of another year, but a real opportunity to renew the inner life of the person. The required newness is not only in time, but also in thoughts, character, habits, and spiritual life. Pope Shenouda points out that the renewal of the mind comes through repentance and spiritual growth, while a person should look back at the past year to see what he learned from it and what he gained spiritually. A person should also examine the wasted times and the mistakes he committed, and ask himself whether he came out of the previous year with experience and spiritual growth or whether the year passed without real benefit.
Spiritual Message
The lecture emphasizes that the first step in correcting oneself is to know one’s mistakes honestly, because a person cannot leave a mistake that he does not know or does not want to see. Therefore, a person should sit with himself in a quiet and honest session, without flattering himself or justifying himself, and should examine himself before others judge him. He also calls for accepting advice and rebuke with a humble spirit, and for examining every criticism to know whether it reveals a real fault within the person. He also emphasizes the importance of looking at oneself in the light of the teaching of the Holy Bible, the teachings of the fathers, the lives of the saints, repeated sins, established traits, and sound principles and values.
Educational Lesson
The lecture teaches us that knowing oneself requires continuous examination and sound standards for virtue and conduct. A person needs to understand the meaning of strength, freedom, and courage and their limits, and to correct his standards and judgments concerning matters so that he can distinguish between right and wrong. Growth in age alone is not enough; it should be accompanied by growth in spirituality and continuous spiritual maturity. A person should also train himself in virtues such as meekness, humility, obedience, hope, and joy in the Lord, and should ask himself about the place of each virtue in his life.
Practical Application
The lecture calls a person, at the beginning of the year, to set aside time to examine himself, identify his mistakes, and begin correcting them, then establish a practical way to resist and leave sin. He should also care about growing in love for God, love for people, and love for virtue, and should discover the reasons that prevent his spiritual growth and try to address them. The lecture also encourages welcoming the new year with hope, joy in the Lord, and confidence that God will help the person and save him from his sins. Finally, each person is asked to sit with himself, write down what needs to be corrected, and honestly evaluate his spiritual life, so that he may begin the new year with clear steps toward change and growth.
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