My God, Bless the New Year
To all those who want to act according to their conscience, that is, by being conscious of their responsibility for the common good, by being conscientious about this responsibility, and, if possible, with a conscience enlightened by faith.
My God, Bless the New Year
Yes, Lord, time passes by
the time, no, but we pass.
Thus, it is with this song
formerly sung so many times
by my parents
and by all my siblings
that I want to pray to you.
But as you see, Lord,
already, I am changing the words
and apologize to the composer.
A while back,
everyone addressed you in formal terms.
But, I will be informal.
This makes me feel closer to you.
Thus, when I sing:
O my God, bless the new year.
I ask you to speak well of the year 2021.
I beg you to wish well for the year
which I hope will be better than the last.
Yet, you gave us 2020
as a gift.
What have we done with it?
There are misfortunes beyond our making.
Thus, we are not responsible for the coronavirus
which caused such devastation throughout this year.
But we are guilty of our whims
that made us sometimes refuse
to take precautions
which could have limited the impacts of the virus.
We have not always kept the required distance.
Like spoiled children,
if we were tired of wearing masks,
we refused to wear them…
We continued to sometimes allow
visits between grandparents and grandchildren,
gatherings with too many friends
unable to resist celebrating…
And we have complained
about the inability to go to the theatre, the cinema, the restaurant
whereas if we had thought
about those who are truly starving
we would have turned our hearts more
towards these people
from Asia and Africa,
Central America and Europe.
But, Lord, you are a God generous
with your forgiveness and your blessings.
Forgive us for the harmful pursuit of our own pleasure
which fails to seek the common good.
Yes, make our parents, our friends happy,
and the infinite bits of happiness you have left,
cast them on others:
on the planet that cries out
for respect;
on the youth waiting for a happy future;
on the elderly
who cradle their memories;
on the sick hoping for recovery;
on the poor
who you proclaimed are blessed;
on everyone
to whom you have sent your Son, the Lord Jesus,
to show them your love.
This year which we enter,
it is all yours.
It is your kindness and your generosity that offer it to us
not to merit paradise.
for you are the one who has opened the doors of paradise to us.
This new year
is a step towards paradise.
It is a step towards you who, already, has open arms for us.
So, as of now, we can sing to you:
O my God, bless the new year
and make our parents, our friends happy.
It is all yours and is given to us.
It is a step towards paradise.
It is all yours and is given to us.
It is a step towards paradise.