BY PAT GOHN
For the Christian, everything’s new
Newness is a hallmark of our lives—and a source of joy. As most of the world awakens to a new year, we Catholics have been in new-year-mode since the First Sunday of Advent!
The newness we experience as believers is beyond ordinary. It’s supernatural, and extraordinary, just as our God is—or, as St. Augustine described, “ever ancient, ever new.”
The Word of God declares this newness …
The ongoing creation of God our Creator is always evident, his mercies “renewed each morning” (Lamentations 3:23).
Newness marks the words and works of Jesus. We are given a “new commandment” (John 13:34) and invited into “a new covenant” (Luke 22:20).
St. Paul teaches that, in Christ, we are “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17) and experience “newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
And as we await the “new heaven and the new earth” (Revelation 21:1), who can forget the eternal promise of Jesus: “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5)?
The Church offers newness via the sacraments …
The Church was made manifest … [on] Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era …
Christ now lives and acts in and with his Church, in a new way. … He acts through the sacraments … (CCC, 1076, emphasis added)
The Gospel is Good News in part because of all that’s new. It is, indeed, news to both unbelievers and those we serve who have yet to discover their joy in Christ. May we renew our faith in the God who makes all things new— including us! May this new year find us ever more ready to share what is good and what is new with those we are privileged to catechize.
Pat Gohn, MA, is the editor of Catechist magazine.
This article was originally published as part of an Editor’s Note in Catechist magazine, January 2017. It has been modified for this format.
Image credit: Berna Namoglu / Shutter Stock 323343314
