New Beginnings

31 Dec

Children, it is the last hour; 
and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming,
so now many antichrists have appeared. 
Thus we know this is the last hour. 
They went out from us, but they were not really of our number;
if they had been, they would have remained with us. 
Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. 
But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One,
and you all have knowledge. 
I write to you not because you do not know the truth 
but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth.  (1 Jn 2:18-21)

We are in the last hours — of a calendar year, that is.

Today is the last day of 2013.  Tomorrow begins another year.

As we look toward new beginnings at year’s end, we tend to make resolutions for ourselves.  Many, if not most, of those resolutions are broken shortly after making them, most often because we make too many of them or make them too difficult for us to accomplish.

It seems like most New Year’s resolutions deal with our health: we are going to lose weight, we are going to quit smoking, we are going to quit drinking, et cetera.  Resolutions do not tend to be spiritual.

However, our world is in dire shape and it screams at us on a daily basis to do things, say things, or think things that are contrary to our faith.  It is a world filled with lies, as we read in the First Letter of John.

In order to fight this world that is so deeply embedded in sin, we need to fortify ourselves so that we can cling to the truth.  A good way to fortify ourselves is to make sure that our spiritual health is in order.

There are many things that we can do to help strengthen our spiritual health:

  • Pray daily
  • Read Scripture daily
  • Read spiritual books daily
  • Visit the Blessed Sacrament on a regular basis
  • Go to daily Mass
  • Watch religious shows on television

There are, of course, many more as well.  Any of these can help us face the world and keep on the path to the Kingdom.  Our year is ending, a new one is soon to begin.  What are you going to do next year to improve yourself spiritually?

FAITH ACTION:  Look ahead to the New Year and make some good spiritual resolutions for yourself today.