[Saint Therese]

Your resolution for 2009 was to become a Saint? How would you go about it? What would you change about your life?
Shouldn't we all be working towards that goal? :detective:

[CatherineM]

Yes we should. I'd add daily mass more often. Probably add in some serious volunteer work, homeless shelter or children's hospital.

[DominicanPhilosophy]

That's actually an awesome New Year's resolution, and an answer to my all-day-long goal of coming up with one, lol! [Not that I'll reach sainthood or anything of course.. :breakdance:, but to have that as a goal - to really strive to be more Christ-like..WOW!] I would take the Theresian approach; I love the Little Flower! Little prayers before and during everything - cooking, cleaning, chores, homework, tying your shoes, brushing your teeth - just to offer it up and sanctify your "prayers, works, joys, and sufferings [of this day]," help out some souls in purgatory, lol!

When you are feeling particularly down and unloving, try to hang on to the truth that "unfelt love" can be the greatest in the eyes of Love Himself..to continue on with loving actions when there is seemingly only desire to keep oneself comfortable and happy. Then, you are truly dealing with the spiritual and not the emotional, when you are able to go against every fiber of your being and make sacrifices for [the good of] others.

And "step out of character" for others, too; ie, if you're a shy person, for the sake of others, be a bit more outgoing. For people like me, we can easily over-do it in social settings and need to listen to the voice of God when He whispers to us to quiet down and learn from what others have to say. :shutup:

Sorry to get all deep, lol! :think: But wow, yeah, thanks for inspiring me with a New Year's resolution, haha.

Edit: Until like two seconds ago, I failed to realize that your username is St. Therese - YAYYYY! In that case, if you love her approach and Little Way and have read her writings, namely Story of a Soul, all of what I said was probably pretty redundant..OoPs!

+JMJD

This post has been edited by DominicanPhilosophy: 01 January 2009 - 11:08 PM

[Saint Therese]

I'm totally serious about this. I asked myself, What am I waiting for to get serious about my spiritual life? None of us has any guarantee that we'll live for another year, or five or ten.
So better to start now and not waste whatever time we do have.

[DominicanPhilosophy]

No, I know, me too..sorry if my use of smileys caused you to think otherwise. I think it is awesome!

+JMJD

[T-Bone _]

I'd move to some third world heck-hole and do good until I was martyrd.

[LouisvilleFan]

T-Bone _, on Jan 2 2009, 03:20 PM, said:

I'd move to some third world heck-hole and do good until I was martyrd.

Hey, stick around a while and you won't have to go anywhere.

Though, for most of us, there are plenty of destitute poor within a few miles of our homes.

[icelandic_iceskater]

Wow that is something to ponder. I'm feeling overwhelmed just at the thought of it, haha. I would def have to break that down, maybe grab a notebook and write down where I'd realistically like to be at the end of the year, then map out the steps I need to take to get there. Maybe add on something every 2 weeks or so... I'm kind of liking this idea. :think:

[MissyP89]

I'd go to Confession every single day. That's the only way it's going to happen for me. :mellow:

[Saint Therese]

I think your ideas about helping the poor are excellent. HOwever, St Paul said that if we give up our bodies or everything that we own but don't love God its in vain. And the Saints teach us that service is a fruit of intimate prayer and union with God. So maybe our goal should be to become persons of intense prayerfulness; I think that if we were we would serve others as a fruit of that.

[Excelsior1027]

Here's an interesting quote from G. K. Chesterton on New Year's resolutions. Got it from a post on Phatcatholic's blog today:

Quote

The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards. Unless a man be born again, he shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

-- G. K. Chesterton, "January One" from Lunacy and Letters

It's an interesting question: if you hadn't ever existed before today, how would you live your life now?

[Hilde]

I'm going to work on becoming Catholic first.

[Saint Therese]

Catholic doesn't necessarily mean holy.

[Innocent]

Saint Therese, on Jan 4 2009, 08:58 AM, said:

Catholic doesn't necessarily mean holy.

To become a Christian belonging to the Catholic Church in the fullest sense, it would be actually necessary to be holy, wouldn't it? :saint:

This post has been edited by Innocent: 03 January 2009 - 10:09 PM

[CatherineM]

Innocent, on Jan 3 2009, 09:08 PM, said:

To become a Christian belonging to the Catholic Church in the fullest sense, it would be actually necessary to be holy, wouldn't it? :saint:

I've heard our church described as a hospital for sinners, not a repository of saints. Don't get me wrong, we have lots of martyrs and saints, but most of us fall down a lot.

[Apotheoun]

The Church is holy because she is the body of Christ.

[Saint Therese]

CatherineM, on Jan 3 2009, 10:35 PM, said:

I've heard our church described as a hospital for sinners, not a repository of saints. Don't get me wrong, we have lots of martyrs and saints, but most of us fall down a lot.

Iawtc. If you're a sinner then the Catholicism is the religion for you.

This post has been edited by Saint Therese: 03 January 2009 - 11:06 PM

[CatherineM]

Saint Therese, on Jan 3 2009, 10:04 PM, said:

Iawtc. If you're a sinner then the Catholicism is the religion for you.

Definitely for me. They should put decontamination showers at the entrances like they have in buildings they are removing asbestos or mold from.

[Saint Therese]

CatherineM, on Jan 3 2009, 11:25 PM, said:

Definitely for me. They should put decontamination showers at the entrances like they have in buildings they are removing asbestos or mold from.

Same here. It blows my mind that I'm called to be a nun. It feels bizarre to sit in choir with people who are saints compared to me, srsly.

[LouisvilleFan]

Saint Therese, on Jan 1 2009, 11:32 PM, said:

Your resolution for 2009 was to become a Saint? How would you go about it? What would you change about your life?
Shouldn't we all be working towards that goal? :detective:

Any true resolution -- and more importantly, following through with it -- brings us a little closer to sainthood. I just read the part of "Rediscovering Catholicism" where Matthew Kelly profiles the lives of St. Francis of Assisi, Blessed Mother Teresa, St. John Vianney, St. Thomas More, and John Paul II, so I'm freshly encouraged right now to pursue sainthood. :) Specifically, reading the part of St. Vianney's story about going days without food and for several years eating only a boiled potato each day, and the graces his sacrifices won for himself and the people of Ars reminded me that I've sensed a nudging from God on several occasions to make some kind of ongoing food-related sacrifice.

So, while chillin' with Jesus in a nearby Adoration chapel, I was debating what kind of sacrifice would be materially significant without going so overboard that I wouldn't remain committed. Some people can give up meat entirely, but I feel like it would be good to enjoy a good steak once in a while. Thought about giving up desserts entirely, but felt that would more burdensome than joyful at times. What kind of witness would it be if I'm gritting my teeth? So... I arrived at a happy medium: giving up meat and dessert/sweets for breakfast and lunch.

That's enough that I need to consciously remember my sacrifice every day, but I can still enjoy and give thanks for a mouth-watering steak at dinner :) The harder part will be the other penance I offered: to offer a prayer of thanks with whoever I'm eating with every time I eat. Sacrificing a sausage biscuit or hamburger are nothing compared to sacrificing pride. Still, any material or physical sacrifice is the preparation we need to make spiritual sacrifices.