MEDITATION FOR DECEMBER 31ST

 
THE LAST DAY IN THE YEAR

“Work whilst it is day; the night cometh when no man can work” (John 9, 4).

First Prelude: Imagine yourself before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, to render an account of your past life.

Second Prelude: O my Saviour, grant me grace to know my faults of the past year, and to recognize the means to regulate my interior for the future, and thus to promote my spiritual welfare.

FIRST POINT

REVIEW OF THE PAST

Now, at the close of the year, let us reflect upon the innumerable benefits that God in His infinite goodness has bestowed upon us. He has preserved our life, and with paternal care, provided for all our needs. He has lavished His graces upon us to purify and sanctify our souls. Daily He has called us to the Banquet of His Love, to confidential intercourse with Him in prayer. Daily, too, by loving inspirations He has taught us, admonished us and incited us to the practice of virtue. Filled with profound gratitude ought we not cry out with the Psalmist: “What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that He hath rendered to me?” (Ps. 115, 12). We ought, likewise, be thankful for the sufferings and tribulations which the heavenly Father in His infinite wisdom and love has sent us.

When we consider the innumerable benefits of our God, does not the question force itself upon us: Have I used all these things as God willed that I should use them, for the correction of my faults and for the acquisition of virtue? Oh, of how much sloth, lukewarmness, and ingratitude have I been guilty in the service of my God! How many faults have I committed! How many opportunities of practicing charity, patience, fervor, humility and mortification have I neglected! Let us, in bitterness of soul, lament our great loss, and ask forgiveness. Hastening to the crib of the Divine Saviour, Who has assumed all our guilt and has become our hostage, we will place all our confidence in His infinite love and mercy, and by way of expiation for our faults and negligences we will present to the heavenly Father the sufferings and humiliations of His Divine Son.

Which infidelity of the past year do I now most regret? Which cross has brought me the greatest blessings?

SECOND POINT

WHOLESOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Having concluded the past, we will now consider the future. How much time God has apportioned for us to work at our salvation, is not known to us. Perhaps the coming year will be the last of our lives. Oh! how zealously ought we then begin it! How forcibly should we not rouse all our energy to labor at our sanctification! Let us rivet our attention particularly upon that point against which we failed most in the past year. With great solicitude, let us seek the most appropriate means to guard against it, and to ensure daily progress in virtue. May we not consider as directed to us the warning of the Lord: “Work whilst it is day; the night cometh when no man can work” (John 9, 4) ? Oh, how wise are the religious who always live as if each day were their last; how calm they will be when their last hour is sounding! With what hope, with what confidence, can they not appear before the judgment seat of God!

Although God, in His infinite Wisdom, has withheld from us the number of our days, we are certain that these days will bring us sufferings, crosses, tribulations. We will, however, with loving resignation, accept in advance the crosses God has destined for us, and magnanimously submit to all the discomforts, mortifications and reverses inseparable from our daily duties and from the zealous striving for perfection. What graces and blessings will not the cross borne humbly, patiently, and lovingly, merit for us!

Let us ask ourselves today: “What sacrifice does God demand of me? What means must I employ in order to correspond to His designs?”

Affections: O my God, what a plenitude of graces and benefits has Thy infinite generosity bestowed upon me during the past year? Can I ever thank Thee adequately? Alas! To my great confusion I must acknowledge that I justly deserve Thy chastisements because of my ingratitude and my abuse of Thy benefits. Pardon, O benign Father, the negligence, the indolence and the infidelity of Thy poor, weak child. By means of prayer and the Sacraments, Thou didst offer me abundant graces to enable me to fulfill Thy holy Will zealously in the duties of my vocation, but I have shamefully abused Thy love by resisting grace. Do Thou, O my beloved Jesus, supply all my negligences through Thy infinite merits; increase Thy love in my heart, that in the future I may courageously and steadfastly follow Thee on the way of the cross, to Thy glory.

Resolution: Today I will perform all my duties with special fervor and zeal.

Spiritual Bouquet: “Work whilst it is day.”

Prayer: Soul of Christ . . .