a Year of Faith

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Vatican Council, the Pope calls us to celebrate a year of faith. In this year of Faith, he calls us to make resolutions that celebrate catholicism and virtue. This year of faith, I am 5 resolutions of my own. 3 of my resolutions come from suggestion of Bishop Ricken. The first is to live the Beatitudes. I think we should all make a conscious effort to study and practice the Beatitudes to help us make virtuous decisions. Next, I want to focus on volunteer work in the community. I think giving back is one of our most important responsibilities as Catholics. We are called to "serve the dear neighbor." This includes big acts of volunteering such as soup kitchens and homeless shelters, to small acts of service toward one another. In addition to volunteering my time in the community, I am making a resolution of my own that focuses on helping those right around me. I want to focus on helping my peers, friends, and family anyway I can. Helping a classmate understand class material is a small way we can volunteer our time to help those right next to us. I think service involves helping anyone who needs it, even if what they need is very small and seemingly insignificant to you. A fourth resolution, as suggested by Bishop Ricken, is participating in the mass. With many busy schedules, it can be hard to fit in time to dedicate solely to going to mass. When I go to mass, I will make a conscious effort to be fully engaged in the mass. I will focus on thinking only about the mass instead of my growing to-do list. Lastly, I am making my own resolution to try and become my best person. I want to be a person of faith and virtue, who makes decisions that better the world around her. I will spend the next year trying my best to fully grow into this person.