Ten New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year! Before we put too much emphasis on our our temporal life (weight loss, budgeting, etc.) for our New Year’s resolutions, let’s consider some SPIRITUAL resolutions. These come to us from Fr. George Shalhoub and our sister parish of St. Mary in Livonia, MI, to whom we offer our sincere thanks. I encourage us all to consider them seriously, and by praying the accompanying prayer and seeking God’s strength, He will guide us toward His Kingdom in this New Year!  

Ten New Year Resolutions

1) Attend Church services on a regular basis, especially Sunday Liturgy. Keep Sunday Holy and keep it in Church.

2) Read your Bible; it is the saving Word of God, given through Jesus Christ. Begin by reading for at least 10 minutes a day.

3) Ask for forgiveness from family, friends, and members of your parish. Forgiveness is a difficult virtue to put into practice and even more difficult to use regularly. Let us practice forgiveness; it is the first step in preparing for Holy Confession and Holy Communion each and every Sunday.

4) Make a prayer corner in your home in which you and your family gather regularly for prayer.

5) Put your God-given talents to use and become a steward in your parish.

6) Invite your children, grandchildren, parents, brothers, sisters, and friends to Church Services.

7) Within the first week of the New Year, contact any family members that have stepped away from your family. We are on this earth ONCE and have only this opportunity to practice forgiveness and ask for it as well.

8) Experience the forgotten medicine of the Church: the Sacrament of Penance/Confession.

9) Commit your entire life to Jesus Christ and Reclaim your entire being for Him.

10) REPENT! Let us vow, that from this day, from this hour, from this minute, we shall strive above all else to love God and to do His Holy Will!

Prayer for the Beginning of the New Year

O Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of all things, who by Thy authority has established the times and the seasons, who provides us with rain and the abundance of the fruits of the earth, and who hears the prayers of those who humbly seek Thee, accept also our requests about our needs and concerns and deliver us from every worry, danger, and sin.  Thy mercy is as abundant as thy works.  Bless all our activities, direct our steps by Thy Holy Spirit, and forgive our sins.  O Lord, bless the beginning of our New Year with Thy goodness and make it a year of grace for all of us. Preserve us in peace through the prayers of Thy Most Holy Mother, the Theotokos, and of all Thy Saints. Amen!