Did I hear someone say it is February, so it is too late to make a New Year resolution? No, it is not. We can resolve to be a better person in our Christian journey at any point in our lives or at any period of the year. God is always excited to welcome us back like the prodigal son.

Hence, today, I bring to us the exact words of Pope Francis when he met with the lay employees of the Vatican and their families, where he proposed some New Year’s resolutions to them. These could inspire us as we start our new year:

1. “Take care of your spiritual life, your relationship with God, because this is the backbone of everything we do and everything we are.”
2. “Take care of your family life, giving your children and loved ones not just money, but most of all your time, attention, and love.”
3. “Take care of your relationships with others, transforming your faith into life and your words into good works, especially on behalf of the needy.”
4. “Be careful how you speak, purify your tongue of offensive words, vulgarity, and worldly decadence.”
5. “Heal wounds of the heart with the oil of forgiveness, forgiving those who have hurt us and medicating the wounds we have caused others.”
6. “Look after your work, doing it with enthusiasm, humility, competence, passion, and with a spirit that knows how to thank the Lord.”
7. “Be careful of envy, lust, hatred, and negative feelings that devour our interior peace and transform us into destroyed and destructive people.”
8. “Watch out for anger that can lead to vengeance; for laziness that leads to existential euthanasia; for pointing the finger at others, which leads to pride; and for complaining continually, which leads to desperation.”
9. “Take care of brothers and sisters who are weaker … the elderly, the sick, the hungry, the homeless, and strangers, because we will be judged on this.”

Does any of these resonate with you? I particularly find number one fascinating as it is indeed at the root of everything. In today’s world, people deliberately go against God’s injunction to achieve what they want or are advised to do this.

How many times do we see or partake in false marriage (‘arrangee’ marriage)? Marriage that is contracted for the sole purpose of travelling or to secure papers in a foreign land.

How people violate God’s commandments regarding marriage, procreation, and chastity? Or acts out of the character of an authentic Catholic Christian to secure what we want?

Pope Francis reiterates that our spiritual life and relationship with God are worth preserving because they are the bedrock of who we are and what we do.