Dear God, as this year comes to a close, we want to thank you for everything: what we received from You, family and friends, what we strived to achieve…

Thank you for life and love, for the flowers, the air and the sun, for joy and pain, for what was possible and for what could not be.

I offer you everything I did this year, the work I was able to do, the things that passed through my hands, and what was built with them.

I present to you the people I loved, the friends of those closest to me, and those farther away, those who lent me a hand and those I was able to help, with whom I shared life, work, pain, and joy. Sometimes without knowing them very well… but there they were, waiting for help.

I also want to ask your forgiveness: for wasted time, for squandered money, for useless or hurtful words, for wasted love and opportunities. Forgive me for empty deeds and for work poorly done, and forgive me for living without thinking of others and without joy and enthusiasm.

Also for forgetting you, for the prayer that I kept postponing and that I now come to present to you.

For all my forgetfulness, negligence, and silences, I ask for your forgiveness once again. And I know that you will help me carry you in my heart even more…

I pause before this unfinished year to present to you those days whose challenges only You know I will face. However, with Your help, I trust I will overcome them.

Today I ask for peace and joy for us, strength, clarity, and wisdom. And a heart that discovers beauty and the best in others.

We want to live each day with optimism and kindness, carrying that heart full of understanding and peace everywhere we go.

Close my ears to all evil and my lips to false, selfish, biting, or hurtful words.

Fill me with goodness and joy so that all who come near me may find a little of You in my life. As J.H. Newman said, help me to spread Your grace wherever I go… dwell in my heart, and let my life be a reflection of Yours.

Thank you again for everything, and grant us a happy new year, teaching us to spread joy and happiness. For happiness is directly proportional to the love we share.

We wish you a Happy New Year full of optimism and hope!