Advent: A Time of New Year’s Resolutions

While we normally think of the first of January as a time for establishing New Year’s resolutions, the period of Advent is an especially appropriate time for determining new-year resolutions for our spiritual lives. This is because Advent marks the beginning of our liturgical year, the season being a time of joyful anticipation of the birth of our Saviour. 

It is common during Advent for many of us to seek out good deeds to perform, like volunteering at soup kitchens and singing Christmas carols in homes for the elderly. These are indeed fruitful things to do during Advent, but in my experience it can be easy to let that activity stop once Christmas Day is finished. It is important to remember that people who go to soup kitchens and live in homes for the elderly don’t just need us during the lead-up to Christmas, but all year long. In light of this, it can be helpful to think of Advent as a time for planning how we will give of ourselves throughout the liturgical year. Our liturgical worship, after all, is that from which everything else we do in our lives should flow. Reception of the Eucharist at Mass should deepen our sense of the profound connection we have to each other and to all of God’s beloved human creatures. If we allow the grace God is offering through that process to extend into our choices each day of the year, we should expect to see growth in our abilities to love through Christ as the months pass.