A Sunday Thought About Our New Beginning to Start the Week Off Right

Fall arrives on Wednesday. Summer's been hard at work here in the Northeast these recent weeks, keeping the cool, crisp air at bay until now. But that's changing. Mornings, for example, bring the first hint of what's to come. We've begun even our hottest days with the sort of cool freshness that becomes normal fair in fall.

Despite the last minute give and take between the outgoing and incoming seasons this year, fall's arrival will mark a definitive new beginning, as does the beginning of every new season. Oh, and let's not forget something extra special we get as fall approaches. We wrote about it last year around this time: the "Straight Shot to Christmas":

The Straight Shot grew from those first first inklings of "Christmas is coming" that arise in the soul as the days grow noticeably shorter towards the end of August. Maybe you've had these feelings yourself. Since summer effectively ends with the Labor Day holiday weekend, thoughts and yearnings begin to (turn to) the (albeit now distant) coming of Christmas. So from the day after Labor Day until December 25th, we can't help but see, hear and feel the approach of that great holy season that starts with the spirit of preparation beginning the first Sunday of Advent and culminates with the wonder and joy of Our Lord's birth on Christmas Day, extending then through the Twelve Days of Christmas, and only really ending (for us hard core types) with the feast of the Presentation in the Temple on February 2nd. At least that's how I see it.

And just as the new season will bring a new beginning, each Sunday also brings the freshness of a new beginning no matter the season. It's the Lord's Day, of course. But remember, please, every Sunday reminds us explicitly of that greatest of new beginnings: the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we go to Sunday Mass, we recall this, week in and week out, summer, fall, winter and spring. No matter our state of mind, no matter the joys or sorrows that have come our way during this or that particular week, today we start again. As we approach the altar to receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, everything within us and about us will change. We will be transformed as we receive the host and He literally becomes a part of our body and soul.

What a way to begin the new week!

If you sometimes go to Mass on Sunday without remembering all this, don't fret. Or if you sometimes attend Mass in a distracted state, hardly able to focus on the wonderful events taking place at the altar, no worries. We're fallen creatures after all. Just remember that no matter how you happen to feel this Sunday, when you receive Our Lord today you receive a beautiful, fresh new beginning. You're alive as you've never been before. Your soul, on fire with the love of the Holy Spirit (assuming you're in a state of grace) will carry your mind and body into this new week ready to do God's Will. All you have to do is cooperate with the graces God will send each day.

So on this last Sunday of summer, with fall waiting in the wings, take the time to thank Our Lord for the new beginnings He brings not only with a new season, but every Sunday in the precious gift of His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist.