January 1st is just another day when you think about it. While many have affixed the opportunity to change their behavior on this day, each day provides the same opportunity in reality. Nevertheless, I would support picking out something in your life you would like to improve and doing something about it. If it’s January 1st, great, if it’s a couple of weeks from later, that will work too.
I wonder what would be the most common thing people want to change about themselves. I would have to guess their weight or physical condition followed closely by some habitual unhealthy behavior (drinking, smoking, shopping, losing their temper, etc). Do you think many people really would have becoming more religiously engaged near the top of their list? Do a lot people want to deepen their faith or pray more or come to Mass more often? I guess I don’t think there are too many out there in this category or at least who would put these things on the top of their self-improvement list. It’s not as if they don’t want to become more spiritually fulfilled and at peace with their existence through religion, it’s just that losing ten pounds or being more disciplined in some way seems to cloud out many other things.
The way I see it, there is a little bit of a chicken and egg situation with self-improvement projects and religion/faith. I think a deeper faith in Christ and committing yourself to the message of the Gospel would certainly make everyone more at peace with themselves (overlook or even appreciate some of their blemishes) and better equipped to make changes if they want to.
If you buy-into my perspective as laid out above, do you think the parish should take a more holistic approach of the human condition and provide opportunities to meet some non-religious needs? The strategy would be to help people address the top self-improvement projects so they could get to the spiritual improvement projects or, better yet, to improve their whole being simultaneously. Maybe we should convert some space to an exercise area, offer painting classes and help families assess their resource use based on their priorities. Would this help?
As our parish begins the planning efforts for the next fiscal year (July to June), we are always interested in hearing from you and what you would like to see happen. Our overall goal is to provide a number of faith-based opportunities to learn, worship and serve (Know, See, Be). At the same time, we want you to be at peace with yourself and well in all facets of your life. As the new calendar year begins maybe your self-assessment has made you realize the parish can play a bigger role in meeting your needs or helping you become a healthier person. Please let us know if you have any suggestions.
May you all come to know peace and joy in this year.
faith developing opportunities for parishioners in a many different situations.
There are surveys and studies that indicate main line religions are losing members and the members who remain are less likely to be active. In this context, the Catholic Church would appear to be emphasizing long-held principals which may offend or deter people with sympathy for homosexuals, women’s equality, married priests, birth control, etc. As a result the potential active membership in the Church is becoming smaller both by sociological trends and by growing differences between cultural and Church norms.
How are we to combat these trends? Should we as a church seek to meet more non-religious needs of people?
