“We will open the book Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day”. What a fantastic suggestion for commencing a flourishing new year, generously offered to us by the writer Edith Lovejoy Pierce! The ensuing reflection stands as a modest attempt in showing how the year 2011 can be, for all of us, an opportunity for growth, namely through the adoption and living out of the subsequent seven principles humbly proposed by the then Cardinal Albino Luciani in his moving letter to the exceptional Franciscan preacher, St Ber-nardino of Siena.
Esteem. Without respect for God, others and oneself, a person annihilates his/her inbuilt capacity to evolve both humanly and spiritually. Hence, respecting the wise words of significant people can make our lives thrive. As Blaise Pascal said: “He who has climbed on another’s shoulders will see farther, even if he is shorter!”
Separation. Keep yourself away from bad company. The first US President, George Washington, used to say: “Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.” Does not St Paul open our eyes when he tells us: “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals’” (1 Cor 15, 33)?
Calm. St Bernardino writes: “Our soul is made like water. When it remains calm, the mind is like clear water; but when it is stirred, it becomes murky”. Lord, may you awake and rebuke the wind and the sea of our worries which are making our lives a hell on earth! Quite our troubled hearts and minds by your authoritative command: “Peace! Be still!” (Mark 4, 39). Amen.
Ordination. Live an ordered and balanced life both within your corporeal and spiritual domains. In every endeavour you undertake try to abide by the axiom St Bernardino is gently commending to you today: “Neither too much nor too little. All extremes are vicious, the middle way is the best”.
Continuation. The letter of St James shows the importance of persevering in what is beautiful, true and good. “But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing” (Jas 1, 25). On his part, St Francis de Sales likens perseverance with a honeybee which is constantly “silent and industrious, stops, drains the nectar, takes it home, and gives us very sweet honey”. Can you risk being an assiduous builder of solidarity, justice, peace and mercy around you?
Discretion. Cardinal Luciani explains this virtue in the following manner: “This means keeping your reach within your grasp, not getting a twisted neck from looking at goals that are too high; not having too many irons in the fire; not expecting results overnight”. I surmise the Greek proverbial wisdom is desperately called for here: “He who hunts two hares will catch neither!”
Enjoyment. Taste life’s beauty! St Bernardino writes: “Without having gone to Paris to study, learn from the animal that has the cloven foot (i.e., the ox), which first eats and stores, then ruminates, little by little”. Ruminate your life by enjoying meaningful relationships, the wonders of creation and by frequently reviewing your life’s course.
Finally, guide and flavour your life’s orientation and taste by love, as the Irish writer and poet, Oscar Wilde, magnificently put it: “Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring”.
May you have the most blessed year ever!