A brief review and reflection of last year's events may have this conclusion - we remember more of the bad stuff than the good stuff.
In fact, a review and reflection of any year would have that same conclusion.
So is this world such a lousy and bad place to live in?
Even the 1st reading seems to agree that the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One.
But as much as the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, the whole world is also raised with grace by the only begotten Son of God.
And we can be confident that if we ask the Son of God for anything and it is in accordance with His will, He will hear us.
We need to ask Jesus to protect us from the evil one and from any sin and wrong doing.
In our time of need we also need to remember the wedding at Cana which we heard in today's gospel.
God will provide us all that we ever needed.
We must stay united with the God of truth and also be on our guard against other false gods.