Dear Neighbor,

The advent of a new year brings mixed feelings.  We look back with sadness for the losses and missed opportunities of the past year, but also with thanks for many blessings received. Looking forward to the upcoming year also carries mixed emotions.  There is trepidation at some of what we see and even more anxiety for what is unseen.  But there are also hopes for the new year and anticipation of opportunities to be grasped.

At Catholic Charities, we are grateful that — with the generous support of many — we were able to help hundreds of thousands of our neighbors.  And also sad that so many needed our help, and regret for the many we were unable to help.  Our hope for the new year is that fewer need our assistance, and that fewer still fall through the cracks.  Our prayer is that those whom we do help might be treated with dignity and respect and their lives infused with greater hope.

As New Year’s Day is celebrated as World Day of Peace, we begin the year reflecting on the need for peace in so many parts of the world, and thus we raise a fervent, and maybe even desperate, prayer for peace — and justice that undergirds a true and lasting peace.

Personally, we look forward to the possibilities we see emerging to better our own lives.  And we also look for opportunities to better the lives of those around us.  Not surprisingly, Jesus gave us a better more succinct way to say this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Maybe this should be our primary New Year’s resolution: to seek out new and deeper ways to love ourselves and to love our neighbor.  This overarching commandment allows us to concretize this love in multiple, simple human ways:

How might I be a little kinder to myself; and also kinder to those around me, including the members of my family?

Might I give myself a break when I make a mistake; and extend a break to another’s error.

Might I pat myself on the back when I do something good, and look around for someone else who also deserves a pat.

Might I laugh at myself when I am being ridiculous and laugh with others at human quirks.

Might I, with God’s help, open myself up to being loved by someone and can I find someone whose shell needs to opened up by my love.

Let us love ourselves and our neighbors in this New Year, and pray for peace.

With gratitude,

Msgr. Kevin Sullivan
Executive Director