Making a difference in our world

Dedicating the new year to the development of holiness and virtue seems like an appropriate way to begin 2025. It is the quarter-century mark of our new century and millennium, which invites us to establish habits and behaviors of which we can be proud. The old habits and behaviors may be the very actions that led to sin, which required us to seek the sacrament of reconciliation.

As human beings, we will always be prone to sin. However, dedicating ourselves to holiness and virtue may minimize our propensity to these damaging actions.

So, it is not that we won’t sin, because we know that is part of what it is to be human. We have selfishness we must push against daily. We have our desire to win and succeed, which can oftentimes overcome our desire for community and cohesion. The fight against our human nature is found in our desire to incorporate holiness and virtue into every aspect of our lives. This is accomplished on a daily commitment to walk with Christ. Whether that is in daily prayer, saying the rosary, attending Mass, spending time in the adoration chapel, listening to Christian music, reading material that supports our Catholic Christian beliefs, or meeting with a group from our church, we need not fight this battle on our own.

The saints would never have encouraged us to attempt to accomplish this struggle by ourselves. Rather, they would have encouraged us to build our virtuous, holy nature in community with other believers in Christ. It is then that we are supported by their holiness and virtue, and our desire for holiness and virtue encourages and supports them in return. It is exactly how Christ wanted it.

Maria Harris in her beautiful book, “Fashion Me a People,” explains we are a priestly people, because we are called to hallowing, blessing and preserving traditions, as well as teaching and prayer. We are a prophetic people because we are called to speak the word of justice and embody God’s pathos: his grief over human suffering and sin. And we are a kingly people, because we are called to claim and shape our world for the goodness of God as we proclaim the Gospel in our own Christian communities.

ACTION STRATEGIES

• Pray and ask God what he wants you to do with your time and energy in 2025;
• Then, based on what you hear in your head, heart and soul, choose an initiative you are passionate about and investigate how you can achieve its goals for 2025.

Therefore, we must each ask ourselves, as this new year begins, how we can be more involved in our church communities and contribute to the building up of the kingdom of God in our own city, state, nation and world. This is our opportunity to commit ourselves to an initiative we are passionate about, as we contribute our efforts to its fulfillment. If we maintain our daily and weekly actions toward the goal of this ideal, we will find we are more readily able to fulfill it as the year progresses.

And isn’t that what we all hope for: that our efforts will make a difference in this world? That the life we have lived mattered? If those are our goals in life, then we must begin with a plan and set out simple, weekly goals, which can be translated into daily tasks, to more easily accomplish this overall initiative to positively impact the world. This is so much easier accomplished in a group, working together toward a common goal. As the saying goes: “Many hands make light work.” In this case, not only will the work be lighter, but it will also be much more fun in the presence of committed individuals, working toward a common mission.

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St. Ambrose in Woodbury.