New Year
New Year¹
First of all, I want to say to you: many happy returns. Here is the year 1971 that has passed, and here we are welcoming a new year…
And I do not know: should I congratulate you for the new year, or console you for the year that has passed…? For the year that has passed is a part of a person’s life, and the ending of a year means that a part of a person’s life has ended… Rather, I say to you that every minute that passes means that a part of our life goes… And every new year is but a new step toward eternity!
And every year that passes from our life, we cannot bring back again… And perhaps during the past year we had mistakes, which we may resent, or regret, or leave… But we—in any case—cannot restore what has passed, nor can we do anything about it… For it has passed and ended, with everything in it, and has become a reality… We cannot change it.
And because of that, it is necessary for us to be precise in every minute of our life… For this minute is a part of our age… And God gave us that lifetime so that we may use it in goodness and love God in it… And when God gives us a new year, it is so that it may be a year of goodness; and if this year is lost without fruit, then God’s purpose for our life is not achieved.
God granted us a lifespan and life so that we may please Him in this lifespan and that life, and do His will and desire… Therefore, it is required that every minute that passes be fruitful, beneficial, and goodness and blessing for us and for others…!
Have we been careful about the times that passed from our life? And was every hour of our life precious in our eyes, dear to us?… Did we consider that every hour that passed us was like a “talent” given to us to trade with and profit?… Did we consider ourselves merely “stewards” over this life that was given to us…!
Our life is not our possession, but it is God’s possession, who handed it to us as a deposit for which we are stewards… And we will give God an account for it… for it is His property and we are merely stewards… So what is the account that we will give to God for this deposit which is our life??
Every time filled with goodness is what is truly counted from your age, and it is the living time of your life. As for the times that are not used for goodness, they are dead, not counted from life… Accordingly, how many times were lost from the lifespan, not counted… So what is your real age?
Look at your lives, and let each one of you ask himself: How many hours of life were mine, and how many hours of life belonged to Satan… How many hours were for the body, and how many hours were for material things… How many hours were fruitful and good and bright.
I want each one of you to face himself with frankness and honesty, and ask it: How many hours of life were for you… and how many hours were against you??
Some people say—with all heedlessness and ignorance—“I want a way to waste time… I am looking for how to kill time”! And this person does not know that this time is a part of his life for which he will give an account on the last day!!
There are persons whose lives were precious and valuable… Their lives had worth, and every minute of them was greatly capable in its action!
Take, for example, the Apostle Paul… If he were allowed to visit us in this world for one day… his visit would be enough to change the system of this world… And he would do a work we could not do in hundreds of years… For every minute of his life was work!!
Take also another example—from the Apostle Peter—who with one sermon gained five thousand persons into the fold of faith…
These were people whose lives were fruitful… And every minute of them was an action with effect… And this does not apply only to “spiritual life”… but in every field… For there are people who were faithful over life… They influenced everything and bore fruit… And every minute of their life did a great work… And—for example—you may imagine how much five minutes of Einstein’s life would be worth!!
So is your life precious in this way, such that people desire a minute of it…? Or is it wasted, with no value!?
Give value to your lives, and make every time of your times have worth, action, production, and value!!
There are people whose day of life is equal to an entire generation!
Their whole life was a blessing to their generations, to the point that people would say: We lived in the days of “So-and-so”… and the era remains known by this person and distinguished by him…
Take for example the generation in which “Michelangelo,” the famous Italian painter, lived; we may not know the names of the popes who lived then… And perhaps we do not know the names of the kings who were “in the era of Shakespeare”… But the generation is known by this writer.
So will there come a time when people say they lived in the days of So-and-so? Think about that…
There are people—undoubtedly—who in every generation have existence and prominence and effectiveness…
And if you cannot be influential in a generation, then at least be influential in a certain group… in a church, or in a family… or in a circle… the important thing is that you be… existence, influence, effectiveness… and blessing.!
But for a person to live like this and leave life as if he does not exist… there are people who live as though they were not born, and as though they were not created… the world does not benefit from their existence at all… but perhaps their existence is harmful… So are you of this type?
I want your lives to be precious in the sight of God and society… and in the sight of people and in your own sight… for your life is counted… and it must have an actual existence…
A living being has an actual existence… And there are people who cause an effect in the place where they are from the first moment they enter it… And there are others who enter and leave without anyone feeling them… as though they had not been…!!
And when I say: let there be for you work and influence, I do not mean that this should be in order to draw attention to yourselves, but rather that you have work and influence for the sake of God and goodness.
And if the days that have passed from your life have this fruit, then blessed are you…! And if not… then give value to the remaining years!
Would that the new year be the “ideal year” in your life.
For example, if the years of your life were competing among themselves… which year among these years was the best?
This question may confuse some, and I do not want you to burden yourselves with digging into the past… It is enough that we decide—we want the new year to be the best of the years of life… So can this be achieved?
There is an exercise called “the ideal day”… so can you perform an exercise of “the ideal year”… such that you make the new year the ideal year in your life?… Try…!!
People pray and ask God that the new year be a year of goodness and blessing in their lives… And I say that this is in your hands, and God is always ready to help you if you want, and it is enough that you want… and decide!
The problem that people face is that the days pass in their lives monotonous, similar… so today is like yesterday… and tomorrow like today… and so on with no difference… and without a “clear renewing element”…
I do not want this… I want you to do work for the sake of the new year… Ask God… And here is a new page, white, pure white… until now you have not written anything in it… and I do not want you to write an error in it…
The year 1971 passed in the way it passed… and ended… the past year passed… however it was… And here is the page of the new year white, with nothing recorded in it… So be very careful for the purity of this page… Before you speak, review yourselves; before you think, be deliberate… and before you get angry, review yourselves… review yourselves before everything… So can you…?!
I say to you:
Try… for we want it a New Year: without anger… without disturbance… without worry… For we want the year 1972 to be a year of inner peace… This is the exercise I call you to in the new year… So decide… and try… and attempt…
Each one of us should try to look for the “prominent mistake” in his life, and try in the new year to avoid it, stay away from it, and distance himself from it…! Search for the “prominent mistake” in your life, and avoid it, for what is important is that the year pass correctly… and without error…!
There is an important remark that you will encounter, and I say it to you as a warning:
This remark is that, as you prepare for the new year to be entirely for God… Satan also prepares to put all his strength against you… So do not grow angry, for that is the work of Satan… He may try to sow despair in your souls, and if you look and find that you erred, know that Satan is working, but do not worry or be disturbed, and continue avoiding error and resisting it… David the Prophet says in this regard: “Though an army encamp against me, in this I am confident”… And the Apostle Paul says: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
This new year, beloved brethren, begin it with God. In the past, the “firstfruits” and first fruits were given to God. So give the beginning of this year to God… Let the first hour in it, and the first day, be for God. And let God be the first you speak to at the beginning of the year 1972… And let the first message that comes to you in this year be from God… God’s message… Let God be at the beginning… and at the end… and at all times. For the Holy Bible says: “Let us begin a good beginning.”…
Begin the new year with a plan with God, from the reality of your lives… And the important thing is that this year be new… not only in numbering and dating… but let this year be new in your life, and in your behaviors, for God loves the new… and He loves that the human be renewed.
And the Holy Bible says: “He renews your youth like the eagle.” And David the Prophet asks God, saying: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me!” And the Scripture also says: “And I will give them a new heart, and put a new spirit within them, and remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes” (Ez. 11:19). And it also says: “Cast away from you all your transgressions, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” And it also says: “And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols I will cleanse you, and I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you.”
God wants a new heart and a new spirit… So do you have this new heart? We hope so…
And therefore, when God calls people to Him, He gives them a new name…
For in the Book of Isaiah, we read about Jerusalem: “And you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall designate, and you shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord”! And also Saul of Tarsus… when God called him… became “Paul”… And Abram… was named “Abraham” and Sarai was named “Sarah”… And Simon was named “Peter,” and so on…
God intended by the new name that the person feel he entered a new life… And from here the name of the person changes in monasticism, and likewise many who enter priesthood take a new name…
And in the Book of Revelation we read: “To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows”… and we also read: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.”
Would that in the new year you have a new name—I mean a new life and a new heart…!
And would that we leave the year that has passed and welcome the new year, each of us having become a new person, a new person in his manner, in his temperament, in his speech and dealings… and his behavior… a new person in everything…
God loves renewal, even in praises… for the Scripture says: “Sing to the Lord a new song”…
God wants new wine… and new wine is not put into old wineskins… He wants in you new wine… but the old wineskin will not work…
Let there be for you a new life, which we begin with the new year… For the Apostle Paul says: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”…
Receive the new year while feeling that something in your life has changed… And let each of you ask himself… Will I remain like this continually… without any change?…
Receiving the new year is not merely new clothes and cakes and sweets… It must be deeper and further… We want something new… renewal in the heart and soul… and life.
It is truly strange that a person renews his clothes but does not renew his heart and spirit, which are in the image and likeness of God.
In this new year, I want you to care about precision in life… and faithfulness in it. Faithfulness and precision in life are matters worthy to be our motto in the new year!!
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An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III published in Watani newspaper on 2-1-1972.
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