New year, new you!

Dear friends,

The above is a phrase I’m sure many of us have heard numerous times as we turn into a new year. When January comes, we are encouraged to begin again, to reset; eat healthily, exercise more, give up treats and make resolutions that we will find hard to keep. We might aim to lose weight, walk more or take up something new.

I’ve always found this sense of renewal a little disingenuous. I’m not saying that’s it’s not good every now and again to set ourselves straight and look at what we eat and drink. However, by doing these things, we’re not creating a new version of ourselves. We don’t become a “new you”. However, everywhere we look there are certain body images or lifestyles that we are led to believe are the right ways to look or be. It can feel quite a pressure to conform.

Saint Catherine of Sienna lived in the 14th century and had a sense of this even then. She said, “What is it you want to change? Your hair, your face, your body? Why? For God is in love with all those things and he might weep when they are gone.” God doesn’t seek for us to renew if at heart we are already content. We have been uniquely created by God. God’s love for each of us is so deep, it is who we are that God loves, not what we desire to become.

St Catherine’s tomb lies in the Basilica of Santa Maria of Minerva in Rome. The tomb is encased in glass. However, just around the other side is a place of stillness, peace and prayer. A prayer stool faces directly through an opening into the space of the tomb. There are a few seats around where people sit and pray, and write their prayers on pieces of paper. These prayers can then be laid directly on the tomb of St Catherine. (see picture)

This was a deeply moving experience for me. For numerous reasons, I had been feeling as though my life was becoming unrecognisable and I wasn’t sure what the future held. St Catherine has been an important part of my spiritual journey, so to sit with her and to remember her sayings was extraordinarily profound. I was reminded that I am a child of God and have been created to be me. If I am to be anything other than myself, then I am not being true to God.

Another common phrase I hear is, “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” This is something I reminded my children of regularly when they were younger. At the very depths

of our hearts is where we find our true selves. St Catherine also said, “Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.” Perhaps this is a better resolution for the new year. If we can offer ourselves just as we have been created, then we can bring about an explosion of light which will shine forth the Kingdom of God in all its fulness.

With my prayers and every blessing for 2025.

Revd Canon Becky Stephens, Priest-in-charge