By Deacon Greg Kandra / OSV News
For most of us, New Year’s Day means both celebrating what’s ahead and learning from the year that’s ending. For Catholics, it’s seeing the past year not just through the rearview mirror, but refracted through the lens of faith. A new year can be an opportunity for conversion of heart – to take what we have experienced and resolve to grow more deeply as people of faith.
Losing weight and exercising are great, but how about exercising our spiritual muscles?
Here are a few ideas to chart a new path for the coming 12 months. You don’t have to tackle them all; try one or two.
1. Prayer and gratitude
Hit the ground running – and start by hitting your knees. Resolve to begin and end every day in a prayer composed of two simple words: “Thank you.” Offer a quiet prayer of gratitude. Count your blessings. Find reason to hope. You’ll be amazed at how it can change your perspective – and reset your day.
Want to give your renewed prayer life a little “oomph”? Pick a patron saint for the new year. Dedicate each day to your patron. Read up on your saint. Pray with him or her. Ask for guidance, intercession or just help.
2. Adoration
Resolve to make time during the week to have a talk with Jesus. If your parish has Adoration and Benediction, try to work that into your schedule. Simply sit in church and spend some time with God.
3. Pray the rosary
Want to start a new habit for the new year? Resolve to pray the rosary – and not just when you need to ask God for a really big favor. Build this into your prayer life.
Intimidated? Start small. Begin with just one bead, then try a decade, then two. Tuck it in your pocket or purse before you head out the door. Finger the beads and whisper a prayer while waiting for a bus, riding to work or walking the dog. Use your imagination. You can turn almost anything into an opportunity to hail Mary.
4. Pray with others
Resolve to look for opportunities to pray together, in person, even if it’s just for a minute or two at the end of the day or around the table at mealtime. You might even seek out parish prayer groups.
5. Get involved
“Family” is more than just the people you live with. It’s also the people around you in the pews every Sunday. Resolve to get to know them. Or learn what your parish is doing to reach out to the sick, the elderly, the hungry or the poor.
6. Confession
Resolve to be reconciled regularly. Aim for once a month. If that’s too daunting, try every other month. Build up a routine. Make it a Saturday ritual. Find a church, go to confession, take yourself out to lunch.
7. Fasting and abstinence
The ancient Catholic discipline of fasting and abstinence can do more than just help you drop a pound or two; it can, in a very real and tangible way, become a form of prayer. It reminds us of the poor, the hungry, the suffering around us. And it can connect us powerfully to all of those who have had to go without.
8. Works of mercy
Remember that “giving up” begins with “giving.” Resolve to look for ways to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick and shelter the homeless. Send a card to someone who is lonely. Offer a Mass for someone who has died. Donate to shelters, pantries, charities. Often, the most precious gift of all is simply the gift of time. Spend an hour with someone who is hurting or needs help. Buy flowers for a lonely neighbor. Help people know that they have dignity.
9. Pilgrimage
Go on that pilgrimage you’ve been meaning to take. Ever wanted to visit Lourdes, Fatima or Rome? How about a nearby basilica or monastery? It doesn’t have to be expensive, and you don’t necessarily have to go far. Visit a neighboring diocese and check out the cathedral. Take a weekend and go on retreat to an abbey or a convent. Spend some time living somewhere else and walking in the footsteps of our holy forebears. See the world with new eyes, and hear its sounds with new ears!
10. Reflect
If you do nothing else, just do this: Remember. Resolve to remember what the last year was like. In your remembrance, remember patience, kindness, mercy. Remember lessons learned, hope restored. We Catholics live as people who every week hear again the quiet, transformative command: “Do this in memory of me.” Remembering is central to our faith. So do this: remember. Take nothing for granted. Reflect on it all. Pass it on. Share what you learned with your children, your grandchildren. You won’t regret it.
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