A New Year’s Resolution for 2023
See
New Years’ resolutions are a part of our culture. They symbolise our intention to make the new year a better experience for ourselves and others than the previous year(s). It is my view that the best resolutions are spiritual and apostolic. I think of them as being missionary, action-oriented: specific actions or behaviours to be adopted and habituated that point to a change in attitude, a renewal, a conversion of mind and heart and will.
In 1949, Joseph Cardijn gave a series of lectures which were titled “The Young Worker Faces Life.” In his third lecture he reminds young leaders that they are apostles and he gives them a simple spiritual checklist: making an offering of each day to God (When I was very young, I learned a “morning offering” prayer, which I still pray each day after waking.); carrying out an examination of conscience at the end of the day (which I try to do before falling asleep at night); recalling God’s presence throughout the day (trying to see God’s presence in every situation of each day); and offering one’s work to God in prayer and as a prayer (something I was taught to do each day). I must admit I struggle with all of these spiritual exercises, even after seventy or so years, but Jesus encourages me to keep trying.
Judge
The Gospel reading for the feast of Mary, Mother of God, which we celebrate on January 1 each year, comes from Luke and it is his account of the shepherds finding Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the manger. It is also about the Jewish practice of circumcising male babies on the eighth day after the birth. It was on this day that they named him Jesus. Placed in between these two accounts is the simple response of the Blessed Mother: “As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
What is there in my life that is Christ-centred and that I treasure? Mary treasured the presence of God in her life. She is thankful for the blessings she has received. As she looks at her baby, the fruit of her labour, she knows in her heart that God saves (the meaning of the name she and Joseph give their child). She is gentle and patient, her meditation like her heart beating slowly in harmony with God. That is how I want to approach my work as an apostle of Jesus; the fruit of my labour will be received as a gift from God and received with a thankful heart.
Act
The apostolic spiritual life Cardijn identifies as essential to the work of leaders of young workers is not only reflective, it is also active. And that’s where my New Year’s resolution has relevance. What will I do to move forward in my work as one of Jesus’ apostles in the twenty-first century? One thing I can do to ensure that I remain faithful to my vocation is to imitate the practice adopted by our Holy Mother: to treasure and ponder in my heart the presence of God in my life.
When I awake each morning, I will begin my Morning Offering with the question, “What am I thankful for and that I treasure as a gift from God?” I will thank God for being present in my life and in me. Then I will offer the life I have been given this day as a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s loving presence and ask him to bless all whom I meet during the coming day. I will conclude by asking God to help me to be generous enough with the gifts he has given me so that I might be a “silent witness” (Pope St Paul VI said that this is the best way to evangelize.) to his loving presence in the world.
Read the Young Worker Faces Life
https://www.josephcardijn.com/en/item/47
About Pat Branson
I am an Aussie Catholic, married and living in Western Australia in the presence of God. I have been involved in Catholic education for most of my life, teaching and leading in the field of religious education. I quit the classroom at the end of 2020 and am now engaged in research and writing, something that I started in my postgraduate studies. For almost two-thirds of my life, I have been influenced by Cardinal Joseph Cardijn through the movements he founded, particularly the YCS. I hope this reflection bears testimony to the good work done forming me by Jocists young and old.