New Beginnings (09/02/2025)

The buses are out. The school children are on the sidewalk walking towards their school. Facebook will be lit up today with all the parents posting the pics of their children ready for the 1^st day of school. The teachers are ready for another year of adventure, and the coaches are already promising the best year. And it all begins again today, the first day of school. And I wonder what will be made of this “new beginning”.

I remember so many of my first days of school as a student, as a faith formation director, as a professor. That first day can set the tone for what comes after it. The clues for what lie ahead are usually all there that first day. What will everyone make of the possibilities for a fresh start?

Even if we’re not a child returning to school or a parent of children returning to school or even a teacher or coach with a year ahead of us with new youth, we are experiencing a new beginning. I know the year technically begins January 1, but we all know it really begins when school begins, and football kicks off, and our clubs start meeting again, and before we know it, it’s Halloween then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. The next four months will spin by in a blur. So, this is the week we need to brace ourselves because it is all starting again.

New beginnings are not just about what will be different around us but also how we will be different. Have we given any thought to what we will do differently this year to make things go more smoothly, to help ourselves grow more healthy and more happy? Today, before we get too far into this new beginning and form new habits, let us commit to taking some time to consider how this time will be different, how this time we will be different. And let us seek the help of the Spirit in guiding us, gracing us, prodding us, and surprising us.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.