As a new year and a new decade begins, I have been thinking about the beautiful reality that for Catholics, the real “new year” begins with the First Sunday of Advent. As men, we should be excited at the start of another beginning for the Liturgical Calendar, for we grow as believers as we and the Church move through the ebb and flow of the Liturgical Year.
It is our connection to the seasons of the Church year that continue to inform this journey of faith and lead us from the dark winters of our lives into the dawning light we experience as husbands, fathers, brothers, and men. The Scriptures call out to us in the Liturgy and offer a message that shapes who we are and how we respond to our call as men.
It’s All About the Incarnation
I love that Advent begins when the daylight is declining and the harshness of winter approaches. It reminds me that conversion comes out of struggle and surrender, that transformation is a product of the divine discipline of a loving God in the midst of a fallen world. This new beginning forces us into a mode of expectancy, as we long for Christ to enter into our lives and dispel the darkness with the light of his love.
As men work out their salvation with fear and trembling, the Liturgy of the Word reveals to us the cycle of rebirth and renewal as we connect to the life of Christ. The story of salvation is his story. All that has come before has pointed to what he fulfilled on the cross. If we are truly open to the message of the Gospel as it unfolds throughout the seasons of the Church year, we can learn to strip off the old clothes and the excess weight of sin, indifference, and despair and put on the garments of our faith.
As the story of the life of Jesus unfolds once more in the new Church Year, I reconnect with the One who took on flesh so that he could be the perfect teacher of righteousness, the perfect friend of sinners, and the perfect substitute for our sins. Only our incarnational Savior – fully God and fully man – could bring salvation to a broken and sinful world.
Resolutions and True Transformation
Normally, most men, if they make any resolutions at all, will promise to get back into shape, spend more time with their families and less time with their screens, to work harder, or to succeed more. What the Liturgy of the Word teaches us is that true growth is more than our good intentions and some surface promises. It is an ongoing journey of surrender and self-giving, a letting go of the past so that we may plow headlong into the future, confident of our Savior’s care.
Rather than setting unattainable goals for ourselves, we can look to the word to see the story of salvation unfolding from days past to days to come. Like the Israelites, we can continue to stumble and strive as we make our way to the Promised Land. We can release the fear, guilt, and shame of our sins to God’s divine discipline and allow the prophetic word to wash over us and lead us to confession, absolution and restoration.
We can join in the perpetual sacrifice of bread and wine offered on the altar so that we may receive the true food that nourishes and sustains my soul. And we can go forth to live out Christ’s calling in our relationships with those around us as we surrender to the cross, fall down in awe before the vision of heaven, and seek to run the race that captures the glorious prize.
Struggles, Striving, and the Death of Old Habits
Our daily struggles and broken resolutions could easily overwhelm us were it not for the promises that whisper their truth to through the Scriptures as they unfold in the Liturgy throughout the year. They teach us the beauty of submission, the transformative power of trials, and the restoration that is ours through the cross.
In light of this incredible truth, we can shape our resolutions according to how the salvation story is shaping us, as we strive to live out the power and presence of the Kingdom in all we say and do. Here are a few suggestions for real resolutions that connect to the truth of God’s holy word:
I will work to make my body a temple wherein the Spirit of God may dwell, submitting to the discipline of self-denial, striving to strengthen my feeble limbs, and rising as on wings of eagles as I run tirelessly the race set out before me.
I will strive to see in my family blessings undeserved as I walk with them along the narrow path through the trials of life until we reach our heavenly goal.
I will commit to growing more deeply in my knowledge of God’s eternal word, allowing it to inform my faith and lead to acts of charity as I become more the man I was called to be.
I will hunger for time with my heavenly Father and grow in my prayer life, moving from vain repetitions to a deeper intimacy with the One who knows and loves me with perfection.
I will surrender to God’s will, letting go of past mistakes, seeking forgiveness for present sins, and looking forward in faith to all that God will do in my life.
I will come to the table where we share in the body broken and the blood shed for our redemption as I allow God to make me broken bread and poured out wine to the weary world.
I will pursue justice and peace by turning anger into reconciliation, fear into determination, and sorrow into joy, as I love others with the same transformative love that has been poured out onto me.
I will rejoice in my worship as I come before an audience of One, growing in my understanding of its deeper meaning, trading ritual for relationship, and connecting with my brothers and sisters in our praise to the Savior who gave his life for the world.
Each resolution can be an unfolding of the grace of God, poured into our lives through the seasons of the Liturgical Year. As the word speaks to our hearts and spells out the story of salvation we can grow in perseverance, build our character, and come to a deeper experience of hope.
More than Words, Faith to Faith
As the new year unfolds, open your heart to the story of Jesus as it unfolds through the readings of the Liturgical Calendar. Let the message of salvation, anticipated in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New, reveal itself to your spirit. May your life resolutions be shaped by the power and presence of Christ. May you seek him in the sacraments, share in his sacrifice for humanity, and live out his calling with all those around who hunger for the joy that belongs to all who believe.