January 20, 2019

It is already past the middle of January. How are your New Year’s resolutions going? Were you going to eat better, read more, exercise more? Have you been able to? Were you going to listen more, be more patient, pray more? Has it been hard? Have you made progress? Maybe now is the time for an evaluation and a revision of goals.

Last week there was a talk on holiness given by Bill Heiden. Were you able to go? A novena for respect for life was started. Were you able to pray for the precious gift of life? Mishkan Israel held its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. talk. Were you able to attend?

This coming week, Tuesday, is a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. Maybe you could attend daily Mass or gather to pray the rosary in the evening. Thursday is a presentation on St. Luke’s gospel. All are invited. It is also the week to pray for Christian unity. Have you kept this in mind?

There may be no reason why anyone of us should do any of these. Yet, we know that doing even one of them is often uplifting, encouraging and helpful to our personal life, spiritual life and community.

The New Year is young. May we take the opportunities that life presents for each of us to grow, become a better person and even help others.

As winter hardens, may we be firm in our resolutions undertaken at the beginning of the New Year.

Msgr. Joe