How to Make Spiritual New Year’s Resolutions

The beginning of a new year provides an opportunity to not only set material goals in our daily lives – like losing weight, traveling, or getting more sleep – but also to set spiritual New Year’s resolutions.

Committing to cultivating our interior lives is a meaningful way to embrace the new year and thank God for his blessings, especially the ability to grow closer to Him. Ultimately, the purpose for setting spiritual resolutions should always be to deepen our relationship with God.

To make it easy, we can consider spiritual New Year’s resolutions across a few of the traditional categories related to material self-improvement: education, time management, volunteering, and finances.

Education Goals

You can never learn all there is to learn about Catholicism, and certainly not about Jesus, His mother, the angels and saints, or the beautiful history and mysteries of our faith.

This year, commit to learning more about the faith, whether through individual study, an in-person class or lecture, or an online course.

Recently, CS writer Gene Van Son directed readers to an excellent online resource for ongoing education, the Sacred Heart Major Seminary. There, you can find several short, multi-part online classes, some of which are free.

I took Gene’s advice and signed up for the study on Carmelite spirituality. It was a totally new topic for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the material.  I was also pleasantly surprised by how fun and interesting it was to interact with many other Catholics around the country through the course’s discussion board.

Similarly, the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family offers continuing and non-credit education. Their spring course, “Called to Love: Theology of the Body,” begins January 19 and is offered both on campus in Washington, DC, as well as online.

As more activities continue to re-open, check with your parish’s director of religious education. Often churches have DVDs and books to loan, for no charge. They can also recommend courses, or let you know about upcoming programs at your own church or in the diocese. Or, if you are an expert on some area of the faith – like raising a Catholic family, how to pray, the writings of St. John of the Cross, etc. – challenge yourself to offer to lead a class of your own.

Time Management

Just about everyone feels they can do a little better with their time management.

This year, a fruitful way to use time wisely might be to set a goal to make more time to pray. The key word is make. A strong prayer practice does not come about by accident or convenience.  It takes a dedicated prayer space and some good materials to keep you focused. Even if it is challenging at first, you will find after a while that you crave this peaceful time to be alone with God.

You also don’t have to recover excess time from your current schedule to make an improvement in the way you use time to strengthen your spiritual life. Think about the incremental time in your life – time between tasks, time when you are waiting, or commuting. Instead of defaulting to social media, a podcast, music, or other distraction, use these little minutes for a spiritual pursuit. Read the day’s scriptures, say a decade of the rosary, or use an app (Hallow and Laudate are great) to learn about the saint of the day. View those ‘in-between times’ less as throwaway time, and more as time to take a moment and check in on your own soul and where you are with God throughout the day.

Volunteering

Serving others is a key way to serve God, because as Jesus tells us, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me” [Matthew, 25:35-36].

When we volunteer, we meet and serve people we may not have otherwise.  We also have an opportunity to make new friends. Find a cause that means something to you, like serving the homeless, working with mothers and children, teaching CCD, or ushering at Mass.

Serving others is also a way to discover your own gifts and interests. Not interested in working with children? No problem – seek out those areas that do interest you. God gave each of us unique talents and abilities, and He will make use of them all.

Give more Financially

When people make financial goals, they are typically thinking about saving up or spending less. When considering how to make your money serve your spiritual needs, the key is to think about how you can give more away. As expressed so beautifully in the prayer of Saint Francis: “It is in giving that we receive.”

While some people choose to give a certain portion of their income to their parish or charity each month, there are also other ways to approach giving. For example, have you ever noticed a poor box at your church? This money is used to care for those in the neighborhood – including parishioners – who need assistance with bills and other needs. You may be helping the person in the pew beside you when you give your change to the poor box.

Or, spend a little more of your income on something that will aid in your own spiritual growth. For instance, hosting dinner for your Bible study group at your home might be a good idea. The money we have is ultimately a gift from God, and it is good to direct some toward our own spiritual growth.

Other Goals in the New Year

These are just a few ideas to get you started.  You can probably think of even more habits and practices to adopt this year to deepen your relationship with God. Choose a virtue and practice it all year; make a point to spend more time in Eucharistic Adoration; make a retreat – it’s really up to you!

As in all things, pray for God’s grace to accomplish what you set out to do.  And then offer back to Him all the blessings received.

May you have a happy and blessed new year!