Happy New Year!

Dear friends in Christ,

With the celebration of the New Year at 12 midnight Thursday morning, we say goodbye to 2008, and say hello to 2009. This is the time of year where millions of people make New Year's Resolutions. A common one is to lose some weight, but resolutions can also include trying to do more outdoor things, such as hiking and fishing. There are many resolutions that we can take up that will improve out state of life.

In the life of a Christian, especially one discerning a religious vocation, the idea of resolutions is not a foreign idea. At the beginning of every academic year, there are formation goals that the seminarian takes up that will help him in the areas of academic, spiritual, pastoral, and human formation. Most of the New Years resolutions that people take up would follow under human formation, that is, losing weight, or going to the gym more often. These are typical goals that a seminarian may take up from year to year. But there are also academic and spiritual goals that we can take up. Spiritual goals may include trying to pray the Rosary more often, or attending daily Mass more often. Academic goals may include trying to read an hour a week of academic theological inquiry. Like a New Year's resolution, a formation goal a seminarian or religious, or priest may take up help the individual to be a better person, and to live a better life. Nobody would take up a goal to overeat, or to stop going to the gym. Goals are designed to help the individual grow as a person. The difference though, between many New Year's resolutions and the formation goals a religious person may take up is that fact that many New Year's resolutions are not done in the shadow of Jesus. By the term, not done in the shadow of Jesus, I intend to mean those resolutions not done in imitation of Christ, and without the assistance of Christ. Formation goals, on the other hand, are in the shadow of Jesus. It allows for grace to help the individual to work on their goal, if the person asks for it.

The point I am trying to make is this: while New Year's Resolutions are not inherently bad, as we should all strive to do better, we should do this resolutions in the shadow of Jesus. We are all striving to be more like Christ, in our daily lives, and in what we do in life. Instead of making just another resolution this year, I would consider making a resolution that will help your soul. Praying more is a great resolution to make because by prayer we are coming to encounter Christ more and more, and in doing so, we are learning how to live like Christ. But we can also have a goal of losing weight, and to be in the shadow of Jesus for doing that we must ask Jesus for the determination to not give up and to keep going, even when we don't want to give up. Instead of making your resolutions self-centered, you should make your resolutions Christ-centered. As a result of doing that, He will give you the graces to be virtuous and steadfast in your formation goal, or New Year's Resolution. You will also strive to be more like Christ, who so humbled himself by becoming man. As a result of this great mystery, we can imitate Him.

In a God centered, Christian life, we are always striving to be Christ like. It is for this reason that we push ourselves so we don't become still in our spiritual life. It is easy to be comfortable. The challenge is to push ourselves in the way to imitation of Christ. So when making New Year's Resolutions, remember to make these resolutions in the shadow of Jesus, the Christ. May our goals always strive to help us imitate Christ, and may we remember that it is Christ's grace that helps us in our goal of imitating Him. May you always remain close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. God bless.