Although January 1st is the beginning of a new calendar year, there doesn’t seem to be anything that really denotes that -at least liturgically. After all nothing really changes with the new year beyond fireworks; it is as dark and cold on Jan.1st as it is on Dec. 31st. This being said, everything changes when September 1st come a long.
With cooler evenings – a prelude of shorter days, fields of ripe wheat, barley, canola ready for harvest, people heading back home from cottages and camping, and children heading back to school, just about every aspect of our life changes. It seems so very fitting that Church recognizes this change by denoting September 1st as the beginning of its year.
Even though Jan. 1st was the beginning of the Roman year in antiquity, September 1st was noted as the Indiction, a term to mark the reign of the emperor (and more importantly to pay taxes!) and this developed into the defacto new year. As Roman/Byzantine civil rule and the life of the Church became more intertwined, the Indiction on Sept. 1st was used more than a reminder to pay taxes, but also as at time to mark the time and significance of the state, and by extension the Church.
The Gospel that is read on September 1st illustrates not only the change from summer to fall, but also change in time itself. The Savior proclaimed, “The spirit ofthe Lord is upon me; because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim release to captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord”(Luke 4:16-22). Quoting Isaiah 61:1-2)
The Church new year, beautifully marries this change of time – as is marked by the change in the seasons and our routines – with changing our own hearts and the hearts of those around us.
We are called to preach the gospel to those who are starving for the good news of mercy and grace; release the captives bound by grief, fear, loneliness; bring recovery of sight to those blinded by the passing promises of power and security; and to liberate those oppressed by passions and sin.
These actions might seem as impossible as getting teenagers up for school a 7:00 am after two months of sleeping in, but if we recognize that in Christ, the cyclical flow of time is changed eternally; we can see that this is indeed the “acceptable year of the Lord”, of love and mercy, that we are called to profoundly manifest for ourselves, our families, and the world around us.
No fireworks could ever be more brilliant than this.