Spiritual Resolutions for 2018 - Rector's Rambling for January 7, 2018

After finishing the 12 days of Christmas we began yesterday a new Church season with the celebration of The Epiphany.  Epiphanytide is a season whose length varies from year to year based on when Easter is celebrated (calculated from a lunar formula which results in April 1 for 2018).  This year we get three Sundays in Epiphanytide before we begin the pre-Lenten “-gesima” Sundays.

The emphasis of this short season is the “epiphany” (a moment of sudden revelation or insight.) that God has come to dwell among us, and that Jesus Christ is in fact the second person of the Holy Trinity.  In the case of the story in scripture, it is three wise men, sometimes referred to as three kings or magi, who are not Jews, but realize astronomically that a great potentate has been born, and so they come to pay homage, to worship the newborn king, as depicted above in the Rubens painting.

In the secular world, this is the first Sunday of 2018.  I pray we all have a good year and that we are open to the many blessings that God is showering upon us by His Grace.

By now, about a week into the new year, many well-intentioned resolutions have already fallen by the wayside.  Fear not, because the good news about our having free will is that we can repent and restart at any time (not that breaking a resolution is necessarily a sin).  Although we are confined to time and space, and the “calendar” is a reality, we can at any time make a decision to grow closer to Jesus and allow him to impact our life in a new and/or deeper way.

Need some ideas for some spiritual resolutions?  Here is a helpful list:

1) Attend Holy Communion EVERY Sunday, and on weekdays when possible.  Nothing better then the grace of receiving Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and being obedient in keeping holy the Sabbath by coming to church.

2) Pray EVERY day.  Whether it is the full prayer book daily office, or 10 minutes set aside to talk to God (preferably both), checking in with the Lord we love is vital!

3) Read the Bible EVERY day.

4) Ask Jesus EVERY day how He would have you live.