Spiritual Resolutions

As we begin the New Year, we often spend a bit of time thinking about what sort of new directions we will take in the days, weeks and months to come.  This is the time of year when we commit to New Year’s Resolutions in hopes of getting ourselves on the right track.  These resolutions are often having to deal with some good habit that we think we should adopt, or some bad habit that we need to remove from our daily living.  Certainly, these things are good for us, as long as we can remain realistic and also if we truly have the will to commit to bringing these things to pass.

Unfortunately, studies show that by the end of the first week of the New Year, 23% of people have already given up on any resolutions that they had made, and by the end of the month of January, just a few short weeks away, nearly 50% of all resolutions will fail.  Studies show that “optimism alone will not result in the change we want.  The reality is there are a number of things about the way we make New Year’s resolutions that set us up for failure before we’ve even started.” 

Several of the studies that I’ve read regarding this then go on to explain about better ways to help us keep these resolutions.  But I noticed that not one of them spoke about anything of a spiritual dimension to this issue.  Maybe instead of just looking inwardly to see where we think we should change, even if these changes would be good for us, maybe we rather need to turn to Almighty God to see where He is leading us. 

And while we are at it, maybe we need to think about exactly what sort of resolutions we should be making in the first place.  It’s for that reason that I titled this article Spiritual Resolutions.  What are we doing to develop and bring about a richer and more meaningful spiritual life within our homes and within our
parishes.  It would seem to me that if we can get on the right track with our spiritual lives, then maybe our physical lives will much more easily fall into the right place.

On the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time on January 19, 2025, we are still experiencing the ways in which our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is making Himself manifest to us.  In the Gospel reading of this Sunday, Jesus performs His first miracle, His first act of power, His first sign for His followers.  He turns water into wine showing them that at the ‘wedding feast’ that is to come, the establishment of the kingdom of God, our Lord will provide an abundance of joyful things to experience.  But while we rejoice at the inauguration of this work of the kingdom, we might ask ourselves, how exactly am I to be a participant in this joyful work.  It is within this Sunday’s readings also that we hear the words of St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. 

“There are different gifts but the same Spirit; there are different ministries but the same Lord; there are different works but the same God Who accomplishes all of them in everyone.  To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one the Spirit gives wisdom in discourse, to another the power to express knowledge.  Through the Spirit one receives faith; by the same Spirit another is given the gift of healing, and still another miraculous powers.  Prophecy is given to one; to another power to distinguish one spirit from another.  One receives the gift of tongues, another that of interpreting the tongues.  But it is one and the same Spirit Who produces all these gifts, distributing them to each as He wills.”  (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

We see within this reading that there are many spiritual disciplines that we should seek to increase within our lives.  But of course, each of them begins, not with our own resolve, but rather with the initiative of the Spirit.  No amount of willpower, or stick-to-it-iveness is going to bring this about.  It must begin with our putting ourselves in a position to be used by God for greater things.  Notice that within the reading it states that each of these works, or gifts or ministries is given “for the common good.”  So just maybe the problem with our resolution making is that it is almost entirely focused inwardly on ourselves.  We must seek to have our lives grow, more spiritual, more healthy, more holy for others. 

So, while we are making some resolutions for ourselves at the beginning of this year, and even if we haven’t done so, maybe this idea of allowing God to use us for the common good is something that we should consider.  While we certainly can set out to do some good things for our health or our well-being, let us also give some thought to our religious life in the year to ahead.

Let us resolve to be more spiritual in this year to come.  Let us spend more time in prayer, both within our parish churches and also in our daily lives.  Let us be more committed to our worship of Almighty God.  Let us commit to a more full celebration of the Sacraments of the Church.  Let us take the Sacrament of Penance to heart, not only when we come to church, but even beforehand, that we might spend some time in thought and prayer to prepare ourselves to receive the sacrament and the forgiveness of sins worthily.  Let us make a commitment to more fully participate in the Sacrament of the Word of God.   We should pray for our pastors and others who preach to us, that the Holy Spirit will bless them to preach and live the Word of God within their own lives and through that to give strong examples to all of us.  Also, let us strive to listen, understand and reflect on the homilies that are preached to us.  In this way we will fully participate in the “preaching and hearing” of the Word of God.  Let us spend time in preparation, prayer and thanksgiving as we approach the Sacrament of the Altar, Holy Communion.  And as we receive Christ present in this Sacrament, let us allow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, take full possession of our whole lives that we may be more fully conformed to His life.

And I am sure that with a little thought, we might think of many other things that would allow us to grow ever closer to Almighty God.  But we also must realize that these internal spiritual things are really only the beginning of the sort of manifestation that we saw above in the First Letter to the Corinthians.  Through all of these spiritual works, we become filled with the Holy Spirit and are given gifts, works and ministries all for the common good.  So then, we must take our renewed spiritual lives and find ways in which we can go about serving the common good, helping our brothers and sisters.. 

This means that we must serve those we come into contact with, we must pray for them, help them, support them and sustain them.  We can begin by better serving and helping those right within our own families and among our friends.  But we also must then find ways to widen that sphere of prayer and help to include others. 

In the Gospel for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, after Jesus performs the miracle, or sign, of turning water into wine, and the Gospel writer, St. John tells us, “Jesus performed this first of His signs at Cana in Galilee.  Thus did He reveal His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.” (John 2:11)  Jesus was manifested through this miracle He performed.  As we seek to find ways to grow more fully conformed to Jesus, He will then be made manifest in our own time in our works, in our gifts and in our ministries. 

Let us make many resolutions in this New Year, but in all of them let us serve Christ.