"'Vanity of vanities', says Ecclesiastes, 'all is vanity'." Thus wrote the great Hebrew sage centuries before the coming of Christ. In his profound reflection on life here on earth, "under the sun," Ecclesiastes reflects that all is hebel, "smoke that vanishes," the same word as the name Abel, whose life was snuffed out by his brother Cain.

If you were to look back on the year 2008 from a secular perspective, you might well conclude that it was a horrible year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on January 1, 2008, stood at 13,043.96; by December 16, as this is being written, it stood at 8,829-after rallying. While the U.S. unemployment rate in December 2007 was 5%, the rate in December 2008 was 6.7% (10.3 million jobless) and climbing. CNBC reports that the Federal government had spent $7.36 trillion so far in trying to rescue ("bail out") the U. S. economy: "That's more than double what was spent on World War II, if adjusted for inflation, based on our computations from a variety of estimates and sources." If the U. S. economic meltdown has been horrific, the situation is apparently worse in the other industrialized nations; the dollar is strengthening in relation to the Euro, as the European economies are imploding more precipitously than ours. The silver lining to the looming cloud of recession is that gasoline prices have dropped dramatically from the summer's average of $4 a barrel.

While the situation in Iraq has stabilized somewhat, Afghanistan has "heated up," and Pakistan is increasingly unstable, unable to reign in terrorists based within its borders from perpetrating mayhem in Afghanistan and India. Iran continued to pursue nuclear power (and weapons), while Somali pirates plunder the Indian Ocean at will.

In this context, the United States is preparing for a change in administration, one that could not have been predictable a year ago.

The Gallup Poll of January 13, 2008 reported that "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has regained her lead over Sen. Barack Obama. The two were tied a week ago." The poll showed Clinton leading Obama 45% to 33% among likely Democratic voters. The same week saw Sen. John McCain (at 33%) for the first time jumping ahead of his rivals (Mike Huckabee at 19%, Rudy Giuliani at 13%, Mitt Romney at 11 %). Because of the McCain campaign's financial crises, many pundits had written him off as a serious candidate in July 2007. Not until March 2008 would it be clear that he would be the Republican standard-bearer. Obama, of course, regained his momentum and, by making an all-out effort in the Iowa caucuses, began amassing a lead in pledged delegates that Clinton was unable to overcome. By staying cool and collected during the economic crisis in September, Obama, by then the Democratic nominee, managed to look more presidential and more competent than McCain, whose attempt to broker a deal on the $700 billion rescue package (which was just the tip of the bailout iceberg) had failed. Obama's victory in the November election surprised no one.

Catholic leaders, ranging from Pope Benedict XVI to Cardinal Francis George, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, congratulated the first African American president-elect on his impressive victory. But Cardinal George rightly pointed out Catholics' concern about the new administration's aggressive "pro-choice" (pro-abortion) stance, and particularly its support for the "Freedom of Choice Act" that would enshrine Roe v. Wade into Federal law, trumping state efforts to restrict abortion. In the general panic over the economy, the so-called "life issues" tended to get lost in the campaign. But they will not go away.

American Catholics rejoiced in welcoming the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, to the United States for a successful pastoral visit. A large number of Americans were able to see the Holy Father in person. An impressive number joined him in Australia for World Youth Day. These events provided not just giant photo opportunities but, far more importantly, an experience of the communion of the faithful with the Vicar of Christ and, through him, with Christ and one another. On the diocesan level, the One in the Spirit gathering in November provided  4,000 Catholics of south Georgia with a similar experience of their shared communion.

Such experiences, available in every parish, at every Mass, can do much to overcome the sense of alienation that life "under the sun" can beget.

But Ecclesiastes also writes, "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man's all. Because God will bring to judgment every work, with all its hidden qualities, whether bad or good" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

-DKC