Bishop Solis' New Year's Message

Friday, Dec. 30, 2022

Greetings of Christ’s peace and love! I join the people of our diocese and our brothers and sisters around the world as we welcome the New Year and start a new beginning in our spiritual journey. 

New Year’s is a special day for the Church and for the world; it is when we celebrate the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God, and the World Day of Peace. We continue to focus on the blessings the coming of Christ brings to the world and the message of hope it brings to our lives amid suffering, struggles and uncertainties. 

It is an occasion to give thanks to Jesus, the Emmanuel – God is with us – who accompanies us amidst the challenges we face, and for the gift of a new year. We also give thanks to our precious Mother Mary and ask her to comfort us and intercede for us throughout the year. This new year is a manifestation of God’s faithfulness, so we pray we may have the grace to open our hearts not only to new ideas, resolutions and possibilities, but to receive the greatest gift offered by God, who is the source of all blessings. 

Furthermore, the new year also means a chance to begin a new life and a new way of proclaiming the Gospel. We may need to reboot and reexamine our priorities, and recalibrate the direction of our lives, so that all people of good will can be instruments of God’s grace, harbingers of hope and builders of peace in our troubled world and especially for those who need most the love, compassion and care that only God can give. 

But we cannot do this on our own. We must depend on the goodness of God, who is always with us, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary, our Blessed Mother, also represents the ideal example and model of how to begin the new year. She pondered and kept in her heart all of what Christ, her Son, meant to her life. With her faith, she brought the Prince of Peace into this world so that we may have peace, not that which the world offers, but the peace only God can give. 

It is my prayer and hope that God fills our hearts with his blessing, and that the New Year 2023 ushers in a new and a powerful movement to build a new world of love, justice, and peace. 

A Happy and Blessed New Year wishes to you and your loved ones!