
This photo was taken by Brother Martin on New Year's Day at the last Mass of our New Year retreat. The young people were all set to go back to their homes and the theme of the sermon was the need for them to proclaim Christ to the people they will meet. The faith is never given to us as some sort of private treasure: we are always sent to pass it on to others.
It is important to recognise, however, that our enthusiasm for the faith will grow cold if we don't take steps to keep it alive. So the young people were encouraged to adopt some regular norms of piety to maintain their spiritual life: daily prayer, Rosary, examination of conscience, regular confessions, spiritual reading, Holy Mass during the week.
Any one of these norms of piety would be a good New Year's resolution for our parishioners. It's worth giving it a go!
Here's a little quotation from GK Chesterton about New Year:
"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that
we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears,
and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make
no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do
nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has
never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards.
Unless a man be born again, he shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven."
- G. K. Chesterton