How should I handle the New Year?

Q With the start of the New Year, I always feel like I should make a resolution. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. Either way, I never end up keeping them, and it just feels like I never change. What do you recommend?

A Thank you for this question. In honor of Mary, the Mother of God (the feast we celebrate Jan. 1), I have a couple of thoughts.

First, I want to acknowledge the fact that we mark the passing of time. That might seem obvious, but I believe that it is significant. As human beings, we mark the endings of things, and we mark the beginnings of things. Days and weeks, months and years, seasons and lives are only appreciated when we weigh them, when we stop and take note of them.

Think about what life would be like if we didn’t mark the significant passage of time. I wonder if we would even have an awareness of ourselves. The way we understand our own identity is so closely tied up in our memories and experiences. We know ourselves by knowing our past. If we do not note the story of our lives, then we will struggle to truly know who we are. Not only that, we will likely fail to recognize the significance of life — our lives and the lives of those around us.

That being said, Mary can truly be a model for this. Luke’s Gospel notes that, as the events of Jesus’ life unfolded in Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Nazareth, “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” I believe that there is an awful lot packed into this short phrase, and it might be helpful to try to unpack it.

There are at least three ways that we can follow Mary’s lead in still feel like, ‘Is this all there is?’” this. We can hold, reflect and remember. As the year has come to an end, our temptation is to rush immediately into the new year. But if we look to Mary, we would see that, in order to “keep all these things,” we need to stop and notice them. We need to hold on to the events of the past year. This means cultivating an awareness of the significance of life. Too often, life simply flows past each one of us. And yet, we are in the middle of life. This is the only life that we get on this earth, and God placed us here and now in order to do his will. If we are oblivious to him and to the ways in which he is acting in our daily life, then we will ultimately miss out on the ways he is moving in our entire lives.

You and I don’t just want a little happiness, we want boundless happiness. We don’t just want happiness every now and then, we want it continuously, uninterruptedly. And we don’t just want it for a little while, we want it to last forever.

Yet, at the same time, we know from experience that things of this world do not satisfy us in this way. A salad, steak or delicious seven-course meal, no matter how brilliantly prepared, ultimately and eventually will leave us wanting more; we’ll be hungry again. Any physical pleasure, no matter how intense, comes and goes. Even intellectual pleasures in the disciplines of science, history, literature, philosophy and theology never fully quench our thirst for happiness. If anything, they spur us on to discover more, learn more, read more, study more and so on.

What do our desires for these things then mean? For an insightful beginning to this answering question, I recommend reading C.S. Lewis’ short little chapter on “Hope” in his book “Mere Christianity.” Here is a little part of it: “The Christian says, ‘Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists ….’ If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing” (pages 136-137, HarperCollins). You and I were not made for mere earthly pleasures, we were made for God, union with God. St. Augustine said famously, “for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 30). Only God can fully satisfy our hearts. God made our hearts and minds and knows what will bring us happiness. What if you turned to him and sought him this week?

Father Wittnebel is parochial vicar of St. Ambrose in Woodbury.

Cultivating an awareness of significant moments can be simple. It can look like appreciating a conversation that you had with a family member. I know for myself, I can fool myself into believing that there will “always be another time” when I can talk with my parents or my siblings. But when I stop and think about it, the number of conversations that I will ever have with my family members in this life is numbered. If I can be aware of this fact, then those moments are given their proper value. I need to learn to notice them and “hold” them. I need to take note of them and value them.

Next, we can live like Mary if we “reflect” on the moments we have noticed and held. Again, the temptation to move from one event or season to the next is strong. I work on a college campus, and the calendar is incredibly cyclical. There is always “the next thing.” We scarcely finish one event, season or semester when we are already working on the next one. And yet, when we take time to reflect on what just happened, we begin truly living. I was talking with some brother priests about this idea a couple of months ago. One of them mentioned that his mentor encouraged him to reflect every day. This was distinct from prayer (which also needs to happen every day). Prayer is our relationship with God and looks different from pondering. Now, our reflection can turn into prayer. For example, in reflecting on the events of the past day or past couple of days, we can turn to the Lord and relate what we have reflected on to him. I highly recommend this,

PLEASE TURN TO ASK FATHER MIKE ON PAGE 19B

DAILY Scriptures

Sunday, Jan. 29 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Zep 2:3; 3:12-13

1 Cor 1:26-31 Mt 5:1-12a

Monday, Jan. 30 Heb 11:32-40 Mk 5:1-20

Tuesday, Jan. 31 St. John Bosco, priest Heb 12:1-4 Mk 5:21-43

Wednesday, Feb. 1 Heb 12:4-7, 11-15 Mk 6:1-6

Thursday, Feb. 2 Presentation of the Lord Mal 3:1-4 Heb 2:14-18 Lk 2:22-40

Friday, Feb. 3 Heb 13:1-8 Mk 6:14-29

Saturday, Feb. 4 Heb 13:15-17, 20-21 Mk 6:30-34

Sunday, Feb. 5 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 58:7-10

1 Cor 2:1-5 Mt 5:13-16

Monday, Feb. 6 St. Paul Miki and companions, martyrs Gn 1:1-19 Mk 6:53-56

Tuesday, Feb. 7 Gn 1:20—2:4a Mk 7:1-13

Wednesday, Feb. 8 Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17 Mk 7:14-23

Thursday, Feb. 9 Gn 2:18-25 Mk 7:24-30

Friday, Feb. 10 St. Scholastica, virgin Gn 3:1-8 Mk 7:31-37

Saturday, Feb. 11 Gn 3:9-24 Mk 8:1-10

Sunday, Feb. 12 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Sir 15:15-20

1 Cor 2:6-10 Mt 5:17-37

KNOW the SAINTS

ST. JOHN BOSCO (1815-1888) Born to a poor family in Italy, this patron saint of editors and laborers is considered one of the great social saints. Ordained a priest in 1841, he was sent to study theology in Turin, where he became a magnet for neglected youths during a turbulent period of rapid industrialization and revolutionary politics. Bosco, who once hoped to become a foreign missionary, founded the Salesians in 1854. The order sheltered more than 800 orphaned boys, then opened workshops for shoemakers, tailors, bookbinders and other trades. Popularly known as Don Bosco, he was also a prolific writer and co-founded a women’s congregation. When he died, more than 40,000 people in Turin filed past his coffin to show their love and respect. His feast day is Jan. 31. — OSV News

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