New Year's Resolutions

I've been thinking a lot about my New Year's resolutions. Mostly, they involve spiritual improvements. It really helps when you examine your conscience nightly to see the areas where improvements can be made. I was tempted to ask my family members and very close friends to let me know what about me bothers or irritates them so I can improve that way. But I think I would only be looking for trouble if I did that.

The best thing I can do is to practice dying to self, and with that hopefully will come humility. I hope that I will not impose my will on others but do God's Will instead, in everything.

The other day for example many little things occurred, one after another, where I was either humiliated, or wrongly judged. Usually, this would bother me beyond belief but by the grace of God, this time I remembered to offer it up and unite it with Jesus' sufferings. What a difference that made! With this new year, I hope to be able to practice more and more humility.

It will take a lot of practice but my resolutions are:

1. To be more patient. To look at the crucifix and focus on Jesus' patience when I am about to lose my patience. This was the advice of two good priests in Hawaii.

2. To not take things others may say or do, personally or jump to conclusions. In order to not do that, I have to learn not to judge anyone because I do not know what's in their heart. This is advice from another good priest in Hawaii.

3. I will live for the day as if it were my last day on earth. By doing so I will try to avoid offending God by sinning in even the slightest way.

4. To be silent more often like our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph. To not engage in frivolous conversations or God forbid, gossip.

Reading the Imitation of Christ helped me with numbers 3 and 4.

5. To follow the example of our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph in their parenting ways...loving their child with a quiet and dignified manner.

6. To pray the Litany of Humility daily...especially the following:

That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

8. To be patient and kind to the members of my family as I am with those outside my family.

9. To read more books that will help me grow spiritually.

10. To knit more :-)

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!