by Staff
The following was first published in the January issue of our Holy Souls Sodality newsletter:
I am a big fan of New Year's resolutions. In fact, I already began my first New Year's resolution — praying a daily Rosary for President-elect Trump and his administration. This year, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima and Mary's "peace plan": the daily Rosary for peace (so far, I have not missed a day).
So I resolve to pray a daily Rosary for peace this year. And following a practice I learned from St. Pope John Paul II, I try to pray at least four Rosaries a day. I am not suggesting that everyone follow my daily prayer schedule, but if you have the freedom to pray more, please do pray more.
My second New Year's resolution for this upcoming year is to try to include others when I pray the Rosary. Often, I find myself driving with friends or family, so I turn off the noise and we pray a Rosary. So no phones, radios, MP3 players, or videos. Instead, try to pray the Rosary together, even if it's only one decade.
And while you are at it, my third New Year's resolution is to pray the Rosary (or even one decade) for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, especially if you drive by a cemetery.
I wish I did not have to put this next resolution in print, and it's one at which I am least likely to be successful, but my fourth New Year's resolution is this: simplify.
Yes, Pope Francis has tweaked my conscience — everyone's favorite St. Francis-like Jesuit pope. But I need to re-distribute the things I have so unnecessarily collected over the years: clothes I do not wear, books I have read and will not re-read, and many other things too unique to categorize.
I was recently asked to share my extraordinary collection of relics, the vast majority of which were gifts or inherited from other priests. So I will be donating them to our formation houses in Washington, D.C., and Steubenville, Ohio.
Let's pray for one another and ask God to give each of us the gift to discern what He might be asking us to do better this coming year. Undoubtedly, the Lord will call us to more prayer, but He may also call us to do some concrete action (or actions) this year, too. So, let's resolve to make this next year a year filled with spiritual renewal and enthusiasm.
Father Dan Cambra, MIC, is the spiritual director for the Holy Souls Sodality. Visit PrayForSouls.org to learn more.