TOS140 New Year Resolutions-A Time for Personal Reset;
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Truth of the Spirit with Patti Brunner episode #140 New Year Resolutions-A Time for Personal Reset. It is time to ponder and plan. It’s time for a “personal reset”. We don’t throw everything out and start over. But we look at where we have been and choose where we want to go next. Truth of the Spirit offers you a thoughtful process and ideas for New Year Resolutions. Be sure and watch to the end to receive suggestions by Fr. Jose Maniyangat.
Fr. Jose Maniyangat YouTube channel:
http://(3) Fr Jose Maniyangat Eucharistic Healing Ministry – YouTube
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Each year end we plan ways the next year can be better—how we personally can be better. As 2021 begins perhaps we just hope things don’t get worse! It is time to ponder and plan. It’s time for a “Personal Reset”.
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit. I’m your host, Patti Brunner. If you do a daily examen, you may be making nightly resolutions to improve your life, but generally during the season of a new calendar year our thoughts tend toward review and reset and a hope for things to be better and hope that we ourselves will improve. Today’s episode is “New Year Resolutions-A Time for Personal Reset”. We don’t throw everything out and start over. But we look at where we have been and choose where we want to go next.
Deliberate on your course of action. You must prepare for the year of the Lord. Times will change yet remain the same. Lives will change or disappear; life goes on but the Giver of Life never sways—our God reigns in justice and light in all times—beginning to end. Rejoice and be glad. This is the day the Lord has made. The Lord made each day. Man has turned away from God and Man has turned towards God, Lord, Master, and Creator. You can decide to turn your face and heart to Him every day. Place your trust in the Lord, always. Lift your arms in praise to the God who loves and protects you. Obey the commands He has written in our heart and in the hearts of the men he has chosen to lead his people through the ages.
Each person must decide in their hearts to obey God’s commands that are written there. But too often the hearts are glazed in such a way that the glare of the world prevents the eyes from seeing clearly the direction to go. The Lord will penetrate the glaze and lead them where they choose to follow—to the arms of the Father where they finally find the peace, joy, contentment and love that they were seeking all along. People are so untrusting due to the effect of sin in their lives. Even those who are God’s servants are affected by this sin in the world. Cleanse the wounds, dress them with love and God will heal them.
As your heart drifts to friends who have gone from you, know that the Lord is with you—always your friend; always among those who call His name in need and in praise. The Spirit dwells among you—among mankind—due to the salvation of the One who sacrificed his life for love of the Father and to bring those who were set apart back to the One. One in flesh, One in Spirit, the communion of man and God made possible through the coming of a Messiah as foretold through the ages.
Let us consider types of resolutions you might ponder. If you are like me the list of “to do” is overwhelming at times and a lot of things didn’t get on the list yet. How this ‘busyness’ does steal our time! Lord, we give You our calendar and our minutes. However You choose! Keep your list handy but listen for the Lord’s prompting to prioritize. As it should be—God comes first—first in our day and first in our focus.
Do not fear the lack of concentration; instead, give the Lord your thoughts. Look at a crucifix. As you gaze upon the love the Son had for you in obedience to the Father, know that His will for you is everlasting peace and happiness. But the rub is that you can’t always figure out how to live your life – or choice not to – in perfect alignment with His will. The sources of evil in the world constantly combat to turn you aside from the duties and joys of the Lord. Look not upon the negative but always have hope in your eyes, for then in comparison, you will see how the Lord’s will overcomes to bring forth His will even as ‘bad’ times seem to explode.
When there is doubt—find a way to trust the Lord in some way. Soon the doubt vanishes and Trust will strengthen within you. When there is turmoil—find something that is peaceful in your life or in the world and look to it for comfort. In the peace you will know the Lord’s Presence and your heart will know peace. When you fear, look for courage in small matters. When you worry—know that the Lord has been taking care of you and rely on this. When you want to deny His love—stop and read the Lord’s word and know that it is truth and light and that it dispels all despair if you will only take a small step towards Him. For it is then that the Lord takes you up on eagle’s wings.
As you ponder your resolutions answer these questions:
• Who do you say Jesus is?
• Who are you?
• What do you choose to be?
Use this to help you pick resolutions for this year. Ponder what needs to change in your life to be who you choose to be.
Who do you say Jesus is? (pause) For example, I say “He is the great “I AM”, my Lord and my God.” Is He your friend through thick and thin? Is He your redeemer who forgives your sins? Is He the one who answers prayers? Who do you say Jesus is? (pause)
Who are you? (pause) Who am I? Who am I? I am who God created in his image, affected by my environment and affected by grace. My flaws are evident yet I am a temple of the Holy Spirit. Who are you? (pause) What do you choose to be? This year I choose to be a faithful messenger of the truth of the Good News, especially to my family. For example, you might choose to be who God created you to be, and a good wife and mother or a good husband and father. Or something like that. In Matthew Chapter 12, Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
Have you set goals or plans? In the past I have felt like a juggler—keeping something in the air to make room for the chore coming at me. The Lord told me, “You are not really busy. You just have your priority mixed up a little because you rely on yourself more than relying on the Lord.” Ask His help to choose your hourly path. Then ask his help again! Don’t take your eyes off Him. If I turn to Him each hour He provides supernatural time to accomplish my duties and chores. He gives me peace and alleviates all stress. I choose to lay them aside various times of the day, where they generally wait for me.
Do you have trouble keeping your resolutions? Whenever you realize that you cannot sit and listen or when the agitation of doing good seems to overpower your action, know that fasting and reconciliation can bring you relief as it ‘clears the air’ and the passage way into your heart. God has not abandoned you. God has not left you. God is here, always. When you let God find you and enter into the depth of His heart, you will know the Truth and be set free from confusion. Whenever you will call upon the Name of the Lord, God is here. He sends His angels to your side to share with you the messages that need to be heard just as He sent the dreams to Joseph and the messages to the Blessed Virgin. The Kingdom shines forth in the truth to show the Way to the weary. Be encouraged. You have been set free. Fly like a bird to sing of the joy of the Lord. Fly like an eagle and soar in the joy of the Lord.
Listen to His word. God calls you to Him to hear of His love for you. God calls you to Him to show you the path of His kingdom. God calls you to Him to heal all your wounds and to dispel all darkness. Fear and doubt keep Him from us. Fear and doubt keep us from Him. The evil one has sown his weeds for so long he has taken over the garden with them but, if God’s people will begin to chop around their hearts and purify the surroundings in the sacrament of reconciliation, the choking weeds will part and a cleansing breath can be taken. Then God’s grace will begin a cultivation of His love within their hearts and soon the blooms, the flowers of His love will grace their gardens of their lives once again. Continue to be nourished by the Body of Christ. Even when the weeds are towering if you are richly fed you will survive until the harvesting. Do not despair.
For the coming year, wait on the Lord. Promises fulfilled, lives touched, incredible moves of the Spirit—all can be set into motion by the Father whenever He deems it. Fear not. His “timing” is perfect.
The Lord has given you many tastes of the kingdom. Some drift away, their flavor but a memory. Others remain strong binding us in love and Word through the Spirit. Fear Not. Fear Not! All will come to pass as foretold. Prosperity shall return to those who love the Lord and speak his Name with reverence. Do you deny His love? Do you deny His power? Do you deny His ability? If you do not deny these, then why do you fear? Are you relying on self? That could be a good reason to fear. Those who rely on self—rely on fools. Place your burden on the yoke of Jesus and He will guide you in His pathways. The ending of the story is “happily ever after”. Remember this whenever you start to falter. As you allow His grace to envelop your life you will find peace.
If you fear life you will die. It is that simple. Fear strangles the flow of the Spirit. 1st John 4:18 says, “Perfect love cast out all fear.” When illness or infirmity invades the body it can be an opportunity to trust God, to petition God for healing and relief or to offer to God the suffering as recompense. Each of these responses brings life. Should illness turn one to despair and deny hope in any good—then it chokes the flow of the Spirit and death of the soul begins. If you study the ancient Hebrews in the Old Testament you will see times when they turned their face from God and did not trust God during their calamities nor give him glory for their blessings and good times. Eventually a particular ruler would die. The promise kept the flow to the next generation which also had the choice of life or death. Today, people have the benefit of many graces but many turn their face from God.
Jesus has come to redeem the world, to send His Spirit that all might come to know the Father and be in relationship with the Holy Trinity. Dedicate your life to Him. Trust your family to Him. Peace. God is peace.
The ‘disconnect’ of today’s society did not happen overnight. Yet truth covered by the effect of sin blocks the graces needed to overcome as a nation. When generations are bogged down by the lack of truth, the need for conversion, aka revival, is more visible to those who live in the Truth and Light of Christ. Fear not, the Light of Christ will never fade nor disappear even though the days become difficult. The Lord is always near. The power of the One True God is supreme and the powers of darkness are minimal indeed. The power given to man makes jealous those rebellious angels of eternal darkness and in their vile jealousy they seek the ruin of the holy attributes of man and family which are so wonderfully witnessed by the Holy Family as described in scripture at Bethlehem.
Each person has a tremendous gift of freewill. Prayers spoken to God through freewill are thus life changing events and can affect the ‘order’ of the consequences of the universal actions of others. Mother Mary’s advice is “Pray, pray, pray!” Prayer can seem to be a ‘silly’ thing by those who do not know nor even acknowledge their Creator. Yet prayer has ended wars, saved lives, and brought redeeming grace to those who have been lost.
God’s grace is sufficient but it must be accepted by a turning away from selfishness. Even in this His angels stand by your side and keep you from the edge of the cliff, less you dash your foot, stumble and fall head first into the pit.
What to do next? Ask the mother of Jesus to help you. She overcame judgment against those who caused the suffering and death of her beloved son. In scripture at Cana she recognized chores that needed to be done and enjoined others to do them by instructing them to listen to what Jesus asked them to do. Celebrating at the Wedding feast did not affect eternity when looking at the individual events but when you stand back and comprehend the event you begin to understand that even the smallest of chores—like drawing water—can impact the generations and the whole Church. Fear not. Jesus knows your struggles. He shall not ask you to do something that you cannot eventually do. The Church was not built in one day. It is formed living brick by living brick. Whenever you see torment caused by the enemy, know that perseverance brings a multiple release of graces. He who is in the world is overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of Testimony.
Each person has a tendency toward the path of least resistance. This is one reason that a strong Christian community is necessary to not only teach the truth but to live the truth and give example. Does the blind lead the blind among your friends? How about in what you watch, read or listen to? These are also areas of influence. The world has begun to look upon the “blind” to emulate as role models. You are living in a difficult time, indeed. However, this is not the first such time. In the past, in the history of faith and of the Church itself there has upon occasion been a need for a righteous man or woman, called by God, to step forward in trust and truth; trust in God to lead by showing others the Way. The Lord has not left you orphaned. He has not left you alone.
We end our episode with some advice for your New Year’s personal reset and resolutions from a teaching given by missionary Father Jose Maniyangat at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Fayetteville, AR. Father asks us, “Why did the Holy Family become holy? The answer: Jesus! Make Jesus part of your family. Don’t be ashamed if you are poor. Jesus was poor and humble. Invite Jesus to your home to become head of your family.”
Most people ask Fr. Jose Maniyangat for physical healing. He said, “Spiritual healing is important. People who have mortal sin are deadly sick and need healing, they need spiritual healing. God uses the priest to heal the soul. Do not be ashamed to approach the sacrament for spiritual healing. Forgiveness heals the soul.” He continued, “If there is chaos in the family due to the lack of spiritual life you need prayer and a sacramental life. You have the freedom to accept or reject God. Ask him to come into your home to make it holy.” He said, “A good family produces good fruit; to be a good family—put God first in your life and He will heal the confusion and find peace between spouses and with children and parents.”
Father continued, “In today’s culture it is very difficult to raise children. Augustine was a terrible sinner. His mother, Monica, prayed for years. His father was crazy. His mother prayed. She was patient. They became a Holy Family. Augustine became one of the greatest saints. Ask God to help your family. Ask Blessed Mother Mary to help your family. Fathers, ask St. Joseph to help you. St. Joseph was very patient and just.”
Fr. Jose advises, “When you are a prayerful people you can become a patient person overcoming anger. Satan comes to destroy peace and joy because that trait is of the Holy Family. Talk to St. Joseph and Jesus if you have sadness or problem with your family. The problem in the family is (generally) selfishness. The joy is in giving. Jesus gave everything and thus taught us how to have joy and holiness. Beyond giving money and things He gave himself, his life.”
Father says, “Take it personally—He’s my savior! He is present here body, blood and divinity. Visit Him in adoration, at Mass receive him. Today! Tomorrow we might die. We don’t know. Anything can happen; all over the world people are dying. Are you ready? To live with him for all eternity? To live forever without him in hell? Always think of the choice to spend all eternity in pain of hell or in heaven in joy. Our life is short. As in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 8, “If you gain the whole world but lose your soul—what of it.””
Father said to make these three things important in our lives: #1. Adoration #2. Mass and #3. the Rosary. He shared, “We can become a saint very easy with the rosary. Satan will not come near you. It is the family weapon. The rosary is communication with God and will help you be a holy family.” “If there is no holiness in your home Satan will come and try to destroy and cause arguments, discord, even divorce. Satan does opposite to God’s plan.”
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit and “New Year Resolutions-A Time for Personal Reset”. I’m Patti Brunner. Be sure and check out our other episodes and YouTube playlists to help you with your spiritual and formation resolutions. We welcome you as a subscriber; it makes it easier to come back for more. And with the Holy Spirit there’s always more! Amen.
