My spiritual New Year’s resolution is to be mindful of the sacred in everything. And included in that is a sense of gratitude for the world as well. I want to sing the Lord a new song of joy and praise. For the Lord does love his people – enough to give us this amazing world and everything in it, including his son who came into this world at Christmas as a baby and will redeem the world.

In the first reading we are told that God listens to us and hears us when we call on him and that our sins can be forgiven. How grateful we should be for that. In the second reading we hear John the Baptist telling of the good things given us from heaven, and like him we can be observant of the amazing events around us.

Everything around us is a miracle, and we should acknowledge it as such. Each snowflake of winter and each blade of grass in the spring is something amazing. Everything we do, we can do begrudgingly or out of habit, or we can do with a mind to the sacred nature in all. Every errand to the store can be an adventure. Every encounter is an encounter with the sacred. Everything is sacred. Let us be glad in our maker and praise him, and be thankful for all we are given.