Allow God to order steps in the New Year

How you ever noticed how clearly the Gospel focuses on change? The Bible is all about a change from the old covenant to the new covenant. Jesus tells his disciples about a change that begins with a baptism of fire. He works his first miracle by changing water into wine. The Sermon on the Mount tells us to change from the old law to the new law, where we love our enemies and overcome evil with an abundance of good deeds.

01/03/2026

When Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman at the well, he changes our way of worshipping God. We no longer need a temple on a mountain. We worship God anywhere and everywhere, offering a new kind of sacrifice. No more blood from bulls and goats, but Christ’s own body and blood offered for the forgiveness of sins. This fulfils the prophecy of Malachi: “From farthest east to farthest west my name is great among the nations, and everywhere incense and a pure sacrifice are offered to my name, since my name is great among the nations, says the Lord God of Hosts.”

Peter, James and John witnessed Our Lord’s transfiguration on the mountain. It signals the coming of a spectacular change. The three apostles watched in awe as the appearance of the carpenter from Nazareth faded and, in its place, they saw the dazzling glory of the Son of God.

That transfiguration was a foretaste of what we will see when Jesus returns to conquer the Antichrist. The transfiguration is also a foretaste of another change, which we will experience if we are found worthy of entering into God’s kingdom. St Paul says in the Letter to the Philippians: “Our homeland is in heaven and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transfigure this wretched body of ours into copies of his own glorious body, through the working of the power which he has to bring all things under his dominion.”

As you come to the end of the year, perhaps you look back and see many decisions that turned out wrong and many failures that you could have avoided. Make your New Year’s resolutions. But remember that you, by yourself, can change nothing. It doesn’t matter how much will-power you have. It doesn’t matter how much virtue you have. Any gain on the left will end up being a loss on the right.

Make your New Year’s resolutions. But do not trust your own strength and do not worry about your weaknesses. Trust God. He is the only one who can change you. The Good News is that he wants to change you and make you holy.

This article by Fr. Joe Babendreier first appeared in the Sunday Nation on 27th December 2015

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