Make a new resolution and keep it

Having just celebrated the beautiful Solemnity of the Birth of Our Lord, and then during the Octave of Christmas celebrated the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we come to a new calendar year. Of course, for us our new year began on the first Sunday of Advent and will continue through the Solemnity of Christ the King toward the end of this year of 2024.

The reason I mention these important days is that Holy Mother Church wants the secular calendar year to be begun, lived and concluded under the inspiration of Almighty God and His angels and saints. In a visible way, to evangelize the world which needs God so desperately and needs the example of holiness and virtue of all the saints throughout history, most especially the examples of Our Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph.

If you were in Church during Advent and Christmas, you no doubt picked up a new parish calendar for 2024. I urge you to look at each month and see the many days every month when the Church celebrates the feast of saints, either individually or two or more together on a specific day. The majority of days every month and throughout the year have a feast or solemnity.

Now, take your Lives of the Saints and read about these saints and do it as a daily practice. There’s the custom of making some New Year’s resolutions on January 1 and that’s nice but we usually make resolutions which we do not keep. This year, make just one resolution and keep it. Be resolved to read the life of a saint every day and ask yourself this question: what in this saint’s life is most like my life? If you keep this resolution every day during 2024, I assure you that you will grow in your personal holiness. When we associate ourselves with the saints, their holiness rubs off on us.

I know we all reflect on the year just ended and we do thank God for the many blessings we received. However, let’s not let those blessings lie dormant. Let us use them for our own sanctification and let us help others appreciate the blessings they have received and use them. The examples of the saints help us understand what true holiness is and why it is so necessary for us to be holy every day.

Have a happy and holy new year!