Father Maassen's Message - 12/31/2023

Blessed and joyful new year to all! Thank you to all who decorated the church, and all who participated in so many ways over Christmas.  We are still in the Christmas season, which ends on January 8th, the Baptism of the Lord. Thank you for all your prayers and gifts of money, gift certificates, food and other gifts.  Thank you so very much. I am praying that you all have a joyful, holy New Year.
 
I was driving recently and somehow was headed in the wrong direction. I could have tried to find an alternate route in the direction where I wanted to go, but finally, I just said the heck with it, and I turned around.

Sometimes in life, we find that we take a wrong turn or head in the wrong direction. We can stop. We can turn around. We can change our course. But maybe our willpower doesn't seem to be enough. Perhaps we need to get out of the car and get into another.

Years ago, I read an interesting book about willpower. The author's basic premise was how our environment greatly impacts us - our  friends, what we see, what we listen to, what we read, and how we schedule our time. It has an incredible effect on us. His advice seemed to not focus on our willpower.

If you head in the wrong direction in life and do not follow Jesus Christ through our Catholic faith then what about our environment? Is our environment conducive to following Jesus Christ? Does it need to change? Do we need to get in another car? Is Sunday Mass the center of our week, a most necessary environment?

Many people make New Year's resolutions and fail. Statistically, it seems that most fail, which is very interesting. Maybe creating and controlling our environment is the answer. (See above). Regardless of the circumstances in life, there is the opportunity for joy. I have witnessed this in the laity, which is so beautiful.