Happy Feast of Mary, Mother of God

Greetings all and happy New Year. I hope that everyone enjoyed their Christmas break. Hopefully you all went to Mass on Thursday, because it was a holy day of obligation. Even if it wasn’t a Holy Day of Obligation, I think it would have been a good idea to attend Mass anyway. What better way to thank our Lord for another year of life and to look forward to the next then with the Eucharist? While we are on the subject of the new year, I always like to revisit the whole idea of a new year’s resolution. Now I know I have said in the past that there is no need to wait for January 1 to make a good change in your life, but for those of us (and yes, I do mean to include myself) who sometimes have a bit of trouble turning over new leafs, maybe a new year’s resolution is just the incentive we need to get things started. The next question we have to ask ourselves is on the more utilitarian note, what should I resolve to do this year? Now, I realize that my advice may not be suited for everyone, but I am going to do my best. First up, I recommend making a firm resolution to eat more chocolate. Chocolate is good for you. It is loaded down with antioxidants (whatever those are) and other nutritious things like milk and stuff. And eating chocolate can make you happy. So, go chocolate. For those or you who hate chocolate I recommend chewing on rocks until you are more willing to cooperate. Along with eating more chocolate I also recommend trying to get to daily Mass every once in a while. I know from experience how easy it is to find an excuse not to get out of bed in the morning, but Jesus is waiting for us every day at 7:20am. Another idea is to go on a retreat or other youth group outing. Sometimes it is good to just get away from everything and focus on God for a couple of days. You never know, it just might change your life. All that aside, I recommend taking some time to learn to appreciate yourself as the child of God that you really are. Sometimes we get so caught up in all these resolutions to change that we forget who we really are at the core. We are all children of God, and as such have an incredible dignity. No matter what we resolve to change about our lives, nothing can change who we really are. However, just because nothing can change our status as children of God, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be looking for ways to act more in line with this great gift. So regardless of how or if you decide to do a new year’s resolution, I encourage you to pray about it first and then do something that will help you to focus on your dignity as a child of God, like eating chocolate.