“New Year, New Resolutions!”
By Father Frank Hernandez
Happy New Year to everyone, and happy 2023. Here we are again, the beginning of a new year and time to reflect on the last year, the good and the struggles that we faced and we hope this year is better and I know it will be. But also with a new year comes New Year’s Resolutions. Where we will try to be healthier and not spend as much money in our daily lives. This is all good for us because we need to change and improve our lives every year, but we have to be faithful to these resolutions.
But do we think of making New Year’s Resolutions in our faith? How can we in 2023 improve our relationship with the Lord? We forget about our faith life at this moment of the year. We remember Christmas and all these special holidays, but as we start a new year and want to change, how does our faith fit into our daily lives?
All of us want to improve our lives, be healthier, better and live a good life. How does our faith fit in that improvement? As a priest, I have people share with me that they want to improve their prayer life and I ask them what are they going to do about it. They tell me they do not know, but one day they will start. Or they tell me they do not know how to pray, I try to help them but sometimes they do not want to learn. What can we do to improve our faith as we begin this new year? Praying more or starting to pray again. Attending services on Sundays again after some time off due to COVID or just laziness. If we profess ourselves as Christian, Catholic, Baptist or another denomination, how are we living our faith? In those moments of struggle and joy, how do we look and lean on the Lord?
Faith is a lifelong journey; we need to develop that faith every day. But it should not only be during these special holidays or when we have a need. We need to pray every day and spend time with the Lord to develop a personal relationship with Him. How can we pray more or study His word in our daily lives? That is my challenge to all of you as we begin this new year, how can I improve my faith and spend more time with the Lord? How can 2023 be better not only in my human life, but also in my life of faith?
