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2008: Religious leaders reflect on resolutions
By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
January 3, 2008
Some people have already tried and failed to keep a New Year’s resolution. But that’s OK, according to some religious leaders.
It’s not necessary to wait until Jan. 1 rolls around again to give it another try.
Catholics can commit to personal change or spiritual renewal throughout the year. Some may find more support and success in keeping their resolutions during the Lenten season or under the guidance of a spiritual director.
“We have lots of chances to do it,” said Fr. Bruce Downs, pastor at St. Helen Parish in Glendale.
Fr. Downs doesn’t make resolutions at the beginning of the calendar year because he finds the changes often don’t stick. Still, he knows New Year’s is a good time for others to make a change in their lives.
“Life is an ongoing journey of conversion and the new year sometimes encourages people to look backward and forward,” said Sr. Jean Steffes, CSA, chancellor for the Phoenix Diocese and director of the Office of Religious.
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted uses New Year’s Eve as a time for such reflection.
“My custom, prior to becoming a bishop, was to spend New Year’s Eve in quiet and prayer, reflecting on God’s blessings over the past year and opening myself to God’s will in the year ahead,” the bishop said.
Each New Year’s celebration is different as a bishop, but he still resolves to remain open to God’s will.
Fr. Downs does the same thing.
“I try to rely on the Lord’s grace and focus on what God has already done,” Fr. Downs said. “He has set us free. What else do I have to worry about?”
Discerning God’s will and how to follow it is a process.
“Sometimes it’s good to just sit and say, ‘What might God be asking me to do?’” said Sr. Marilyn Bever, CSA, director of the formation program for spiritual directors at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale.
Sr. Jean agreed that it’s sometimes tough for Catholics to see how the hand of God is moving in their lives. Both women offer spiritual direction to help others in their discernment. Spiritual directors walk with someone on their faith journey as a listener and guide.
They’re not counselors or therapists, but simply help Catholics realize how to act according to the Spirit.
“Life gets busy and we can get too busy to take time to reflect on how things are going,” Sr. Jean said. But that step is important, she added, because it ensures the spiritual journey is heading in the right direction.
Sr. Colleen Braun, CSA, chaplain at the All Saints Newman Center in Tempe, takes time to reflect on her resolutions. She doesn’t make them in January though. She said the secular media frequently pokes fun at how they’re often short-lived, so she waits until Lent.
“In Lent I will make a New Year’s resolution and keep it,” Sr. Colleen said.
Sr. Colleen realized early in her religious life that her parents didn’t get much mail anymore, so she made a resolution to write to them once a week. The tradition thrived for many years until she began to call them instead. When it recently became tougher for her dad to get to the phone, Sr. Colleen reverted to writing letters.
She advised Catholics to set resolutions that they truly intend to keep and finds Lent — with its fasting, prayer and works of charity — to be a better time than New Year’s.
“Any time we make a resolution, it’s good to hold it very loosely,” Sr. Marilyn said. Otherwise, people tend to add another layer of guilt if they fail, she added.
“I think resolutions are better if they’re something that we give rather than give up,” she said. “Resolve to do something positive.”
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