Before sitting down to write this morning I used my blessed chalk to mark the inside and outside door of my home. It’s a beautiful tradition, on the Feast of the Epiphany, in the Catholic Church to chalk the doors and speak a blessing over the home and all who might enter it during the new year. (I have shared the Blessing Prayer in a previous Epiphany post, but you can easily find it online, and have included an image of my door for 2025 on the website version of my blog). It reminded me of a poem I read by Jan Richardson for New Year’s Eve.

Her poem was “This Year as a House”. (You can find it on her Facebook page.) She began by saying:

Think of the year

as a house:

door flung wide

in welcome,

threshold swept

and waiting,

a graced spaciousness

opening and offering itself

to you.

It’s a beautiful poem that reflects on the year being a home of welcome and rest, a place of safety and support for those in need. She concludes the poem with a blessing that the rooms are filled with ordinary grace and light to welcome others home.

Like most of you I have been spending this week reflecting on intentions for the new year. I prefer intentions versus resolutions because they can be adapted and changed as I do through the year. Praying that the words of Jan Richardson’s poem fill my life and home, I am looking forward to a year of rest from the weariness of the world, health in mind, body, and spirit, and an openness to what the new year will bring. I seek spaciousness for prayer, art and reflection, and the graces that those simple activities can bring.

I have started a couple of other prayerful journeys for 2025 and I look forward to attending my friend, Judith Valente’s retreat, next Saturday, January 11, Writing the Prologue to Your New Year (click here to register). I think this will be my third or fourth year attending and find it such a gift to reflect on the past year and then look ahead to this new year.

The Magi set their course based on a star. They charted their journey and kept going until their encounter with the Christ Child, Mary and Joseph. Set your eyes on a star this year. What do you seek? What would you hope to have experienced when you look back on 2025 next December and January?

Wishing you abundant peace and joy in this new year! Deena

Photo: A mosiac of the 3 Magi worshipping the Christ Child from Our Lady of Angels Chapel/nursing home (sadly now closed) in Joliet IL. I used this previously in a post but it’s one of my favorites!

Other Photos: The Chapel of Our Lady of Angels Chapel, the mantel of my door chalked with the 2025 blessing and the Magi added to our creche at Holy Family Parish.