Dear Parishioners:
Happy New Year! I wish you and your families God's choicest blessings in 2023! We begin a new year at Mass. It is the very best way to start the New Year! On New Year's Day, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. This holy day is a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary's motherhood of Jesus. It is a reminder of the role she played in the salvation of humankind. The title "Mother of God" is from the Greek Theotokos, which means "God-bearer."
Though for many, New Year's Day is a day for football and hangovers rather than for Mother Mary, there's a beautiful spiritual significance in celebrating her during the Christmas season. St. Pope Paul VI, in his apostolic exhortation entitled Marialis Cultus, called this Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, "a fitting occasion for renewing adoration of the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels (Luke 2:14), and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace."
Every year on January 1, the Holy Father marks the World Day of Peace with a special message inviting all people to reflect on the important work of building peace. A long tradition of messages for this day began with St. Paul VI in 1967. Pope Francis urges the world to pray for peace, especially for those nations at war and those suffering violence, death, and destruction.
Also, on New Year's, many people make resolutions. Losing weight, eating healthier, exercising more regularly, getting more sleep, or quitting bad habits like smoking and swearing are top New Year's resolutions. As Catholics, we might try to make some spiritual resolutions for 2023. Focusing on physical health and well-being is great, but what about our spiritual health? Let us make some spiritual resolutions for 2023!
Resolve to begin and end every new day with prayer. What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Hit the snooze button? Roll over? Complain that you need more sleep? St. Josemaría Escrivá wrote about the heroic minute, meaning that once the alarm rings, get up and say a prayer. Begin your day with prayer and end your day with a prayerful examination of your conscience. St. Josemaria said: "To be faithful to God requires a constant battle in one small thing after another, without giving in."
Resolve to stay close to Christ by clinging to the Sacraments. Make a concrete resolution to live a more Sacramental life. Strive never to miss Sunday Mass, make a good confession once a month, add one extra daily Mass each week, come to Marian Devotions and Adoration and spend more time praying in a church before the Lord in the tabernacle instead of just praying in traffic.
Resolve to read the Sacred Scriptures and good spiritual books. Pray and reflect upon the Sunday readings. Many "Read the Bible in one-year" books and apps are available. They help to come to a greater knowledge of the Word of God. St. John Bosco said: "Only God knows the good that can come by reading one good Catholic book." Many devotional books with meditations to help deepen our relationship with God are available. Catholic authors also write many books to help deepen knowledge of Jesus, Mary, the Church, the saints, and other Catholic faith topics.
We can take many other resolutions as Catholics to deepen our faith. Grace before meals at home and even at the restaurant, acts of penance like fasting, abstaining from meat or sweets regularly, praying the Rosary daily, praying the Stations of the Cross once a week, making a pilgrimage to a local shrine, or making a retreat.
The Catholic writer, G.K. Chesterton, said: "The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul." In 2023, resolve to be a more committed Catholic, deepen your faith and renew your soul!
We thank the Carparco Family of the Hill Funeral Home for the generous sponsorship of the parish calendar. These beautiful calendars were distributed before Christmas. On Tuesday, the RI General Assembly begins a new legislative session. Pray that they serve the common good! Be well. Stay safe. Do good. A Happy New Year! God Bless!
.