With God's Mercy, a New Start Each Day

Reflecting on the New Year, Colleen Mallette explains that God gives us a new start every day just like New Year’s Day through His infinite mercy.

While our country seems to be falling apart morally, politically, and relationally, we have so much to be thankful for in this New Year. The most important being the reason we just celebrated a major holiday: the birth of our Savior.

When the first of mankind chose to sin, God put into place a plan of redemption. This plan involved His only begotten Son giving up the riches and beauty of heaven to live on earth and sacrifice His life. The birth of Jesus on Christmas day started a whole new season of history that allowed us to partake in the salvation of mankind and return to the reward of heaven with God.

We still are sinful people. In fact, just getting through the holidays without an unrighteous thought or word is next to impossible for most of us. The stress of the holidays, forced gatherings with coworkers and extended families, traveling, overstretched budgets and more lends itself to flare-ups of our difficult vices such as lack of patience, self-control, kindness, and mercy.

Yet God understands. He knows we will never be perfect. But by believing in His Son, by confessing our downfalls, and then promising to try to change in the future, we are still granted that redemption in heaven Jesus promised. It’s like every day is New Year’s Day thanks to God’s infinite mercy. He loves us so much that He is willing to overlook these faults and give us a new chance over and over again.

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As Fr. Mike Schmitz pointed out in the Bible in a Year podcast mid-December (day 347), possibly the greatest two words in all the Bible are: “But God” from Paul’s letter to the followers in Ephesus:

You were dead in your transgressions and sins.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ^* (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:1, 4-6)

What a glorious reassurance that even though we are so sinful, God still loves us so much. As any loving Father desires, He wants to save us and help us; He gives us chance after chance after chance to show our love for Him in return.

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It’s like every day is New Year’s Day thanks to God’s infinite mercy. #catholicmom

Be grateful this New Year that we have such a loving Redeemer. Carry that joy of Christmas well into 2023 knowing that precious baby came so that you could have eternal life. God doesn’t like when we sin, but He loves when we say we are sorry and want to try again. He loves us so much He gave us His Son to prove it. Thank you, Father!