I find it hard to believe that 2024 is finally over. Once more, it is that time of year when we look back on what was and what might have been.

Another circuit around the sun is nearing completion, and friends and family have begun to gather in celebration of the birth of Christ and the impending new year—a time I haven’t often looked forward to but tend to celebrate, not out of pure joy, but in the hope that the bad would end and that the new year would bring with it a better, more promising beginning.

As I have often done at this time of year, I have prepared for the coming year by making lists and prayers, revisiting the events and mistakes of the past year. This is an exercise I once considered a waste of time but now appreciate for its value. It’s a process that leaves me close to tears and in a severe state of reflection. Despite my plans for a good life, peace, and a successful year, I have mostly received bitterness, pain, and loss.

At the time of writing this, the festivities have already begun and are now in full swing. With barely a week left before we usher in a new year with a midnight kiss, a glass of champagne, or a prayer, I feel spent yet content. I have been so for months now, having exhausted my energy and emotional resources for the year by October.

This year has been filled with joy, laughter, tears, loss, suffering, growth, and pain—though in unequal measure for us all. As we sit and reflect on the year gone by, it’s imperative to take a deep breath, quiet one’s heart, and express gratitude for the victories of the past year. None is greater than the simple act of waking up every morning. Let us also take heed of the lessons learned.

As we celebrate, eat, drink, and be merry during this season of joy, we ought to remember that it is not such a season for everyone. Let us exercise kindness and generosity—generosity toward those less privileged and kindness toward those experiencing not a season of joy but one of sorrow. Someone, somewhere, is preparing for their first Christmas without a loved one: a mother, father, sibling, spouse, child, or friend. Some have never celebrated even one Christmas with them.

In 2024, we have all inevitably faced periods of difficulty—personal or collective—but I am grateful (as you ought to be) that through wisdom, good hearts, and Christ’s immaculate grace, we have overcome. Through this year and those gone by, I have learned to appreciate pain, sorrow, and suffering; they have taught me to endure life’s difficulties with compassion, courage, hope, faith, and temperance—virtues we all ought to live by.

As 2025 draws near and we prepare to embark on another journey around the sun, let us embrace it as a blank canvas—full of uncertainties in which anything can happen. It is an opportunity to make a fresh start and transform our lives while savoring every moment. Yet, we must also be mindful that while the new year brings opportunities, it will not be without its challenges. There will be good and bad times, and we must not ignore the truth that life is a mix of both. One cannot escape one or favor the other.

So, as we bid 2024 adieu, let us give thanks for the gifts of life, love, and family. As we sit to enjoy the feast before us, however grand or modest, let us dip in honey and apples—that the coming year may be sweet; in pomegranate seeds—that our blessings for the year may be multiplied; and in dates—as a proclamation of victory over those who may wish us harm.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. May the forthcoming journey around the sun bring you good health, wealth, joy, and love. In 2025, may the neighbors respect you, may trouble neglect you, and may the angels protect you.

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