New Year’s Day always struck me as something of an odd holiday. Why do we humans find it necessary to set aside a day to mark yet another full trip around the sun?
Different cultures have celebrated the new year at different times: the Jewish people celebrate the new year in their liturgy on Rosh Hashanah in the early fall; for many Christians the new liturgical year begins with Advent; the Chinese celebrate between late January and late February; and the ancient Romans celebrated the new year in March. Whatever the month or the day, people of all cultures and religious traditions seem to have an innate desire, if not a need, to mark a new beginning each year.
In our culture one of the most common ways to observe this new beginning is the making of New Year’s resolutions. These resolutions more often than not seem like an exercise in futility – we almost inevitably cave within a month or two. And yet, every year many of us pluck up our will power and try again. What are we to make of this phenomenon? The practice of New Year’s resolutions demonstrates two aspects of our human nature that are important for the spiritual life: our constant need for growth and our inability to persevere by sheer will power.
At the root of the practice of New Year’s resolutions is a dissatisfaction with who we are. Though there are certainly unhealthy kinds of dissatisfaction, in and of itself dissatisfaction is not a bad thing. Only the most arrogant person lacking even an ounce of self-knowledge would actually believe that he has no room for improvement. Making resolutions reminds us that we are not finished products—and breaking them makes this even more obvious. But what’s the point of resolutions if we’re fairly certain we’re not going to keep them? Is there anything to be gained by them?
Perhaps the most important thing about resolutions is not following through with them perfectly, but rather the determination to start over every time we fail. Indeed, for those who take the spiritual life seriously, resolutions should be a regular part of one’s life, not something reserved for New Year’s Day. One common form of the act of contrition said by the penitent during the sacrament of confession ends with the line, “I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.” Every time we go to confession we are reminded of the need to amend our lives, and we are given the chance to start anew. Penance does not simply remind us of our need to change, however. Note that the prayer says, “I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to sin no more.” Perhaps part of the reason we fail so often in our resolutions, particularly spiritual ones, is that we forget our total dependence on God’s grace, for, apart from Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5).
In a way it’s fitting that the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on January 1. Mary’s role in the plan of salvation was a sheer gift of God, and the feast reminds us at the beginning of each new calendar year of God’s generosity and of our need for it. As we begin this New Year, let us be ever mindful of our need for God’s grace, and let us entrust our resolutions to the intercession of the Mother of God, who in her Son has brought us innumerable graces.
I have been thinking a great deal about my experience at Reconciliation this past Saturday. I felt an intense and unexplainable urge to go and confess my sins when I woke up that morning. I try to go every six weeks or so, but this was no routine visit to the priest for me. I needed to unburden myself of the numerous venial sins I had committed since I last participated in this Sacrament.
Purest Gold: God's Refining Fire in our Lives »
After salvation, many young Christians wonder if there's anything more to their newfound faith than just the security blanket of "being a Christian." Time and time again, God shows himself as a "refiner," and our lives are as gold. God started leading me in this study to understand what He was doing in my life, as well as in the lives of others.
Picking up my pen to write this column, I couldn’t imagine how time flies. Since the last publication of this column I have gone through a lot, especially the loss of my dear mother to whom I dedicate this article. Not only her, but seems I lost a whole generation of my close family.
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“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before Kings; He will not stand before unknown men.” Proverbs 22:29
Spiritual Development for our Youth »
Most of us youth in today's fast moving world are easily thrown off by difficulties and worries.
The theme of conversion is a thread that runs all through Lent, but conversion takes on different aspects throughout the phases of Lent. The first two and a half weeks focused on the interior turning of hearts; the liturgy urges the faithful to reflect and examine consciences thoroughly.
Saint Josephine Bakhita »
Feast Day: February 8
Patron Saint Of: Sudan
Saint Josephine Margaret Bakhita was born around 1869 in the village of Olgossa in the Darfur region of Sudan. She was a member of the Daju people and her uncle was a tribal chief. Due to her family lineage, she grew up happy and relatively prosperous, saying that as a child, she did not know suffering.
Catholics Must Fast More Intensely This Lent»
The Norbertine Canons of St. Michael's Abbey have created this digital Lenten retreat so that you can journey through this holy season alongside them. If you want to have one of your best Lenten seasons yet, join us in our Lenten Program "The Great Fast" - https://theabbotscircle.com/the-great-fast-join
When Your Faith Is Put to the Test - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon»
Friends, we come now to the Second Sunday of Lent, and we’re on both dangerous and very holy ground with the first reading from the twenty-second chapter of Genesis. The ancient Israelites referred to it as the “Akedah,” which means the “binding”: Abraham binds and is ready to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command.
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