"God's New Year's Resolution"
January 4, 2023, 8:00 AM

I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them. Isaiah 42:8-9

Despite the 4,000-year-old practice of making resolutions for the New Year, St. Francis most likely saw through the illusion of making promises that could not be kept. His simplicity may have helped him focus on something more sacred than what has become today’s obsession with self-improvement.

The ancient Babylonians may have been the first people to record New Year’s resolutions. They were also the first to hold celebrations in honor of the New Year during a massive 12-day religious festival where they crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king.

Babylonians also made vows to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed. If the Babylonians kept their word, it was thought the gods would bestow favor on them for the coming year. If not, they would fall out of favor with the gods—a place no one wanted to be.1 These vows or promises might be considered the forerunners of our tradition for making New Year’s resolutions.

For early Christians, the first day of a new year became the traditional occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes and resolving to do or be better in the future. Despite the religious roots of New Year’s resolutions, resolutions today are mostly a secular practice. People usually make resolutions only to themselves, and generally focus purely on self-improvement.

Sadly, only about 8 percent of us making resolutions are successful in achieving our goals.2 So why make resolutions at all? The answer goes back to our human nature that believes in the illusion of control. “If” we simply exercise, “then” we will get into shape. “If” we eat less, “then” we will lose weight. “If” we spend less, “then” we will have more to spend on ourselves.

This “if-then” thinking avoids confronting the reality that what we resolve to do may not happen at all. We may try to stay in control. And, then we get tired; we lose focus; we get sick; we lose jobs, friends, and relatives. Some of us even lose our faith in God. Begging God doesn’t help. Still, in our self-centeredness, we continue to believe that “if” we have enough willpower, “then” we will succeed (with or without God).

For the Christian, “if-then” thinking never works. The only person who can keep a resolution 100% of the time is God. God thinks differently. God moves the conversation to another level. Instead of IF you keep your resolution, THEN you can be loved. God says, BECAUSE of Christ’s love, THEREFORE I love you.

God’s resolution for you this New Year and every year is:

I love you today.

I shall love you tomorrow,

     and throughout all eternity.

In addition, I love you no matter

     who you are,

          what you did,

               or did not do.

My resolve as God is to love you no matter what!

Prayers and Blessings in this New Year,

Fr. John

1 www.history.com/news/the-history-of-new-years-resolutions

2 time.com/6243642/how-to-keep-new-years-resolutions-2/