1 Corinthians 2:
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters.
When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I
proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while
I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I
came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My
message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with
a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest
on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
Resolution: noun
1.
a firm decision to do or not to do something.
Goal: noun
1.
the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an
aim or desired result: going to law school has become the most important
goal in his life
2.
the destination of a journey
3.
a point marking the end of a race.
(Oxford Dictionary)
Goals and Objectives
·
Goal: Broad spectrum, complex,
organizational, indication of program intentions.
·
Objectives: Measurable, defined,
operational, simple steps, and specific. Objectives contribute to the
fulfillment of specified goals. Complete with a beginning and an end. (www.msu.edu)
My friend Frank and I had an interesting conversation the other night
over dessert and coffee. We were discussing the idea of making New Year’s
Resolutions. I complained that I have never really been successful at this
practice, and he explained that he never does it. He sets yearly goals and then
develops short but achievable ways to attain his goal. At first I thought we
were talking about the same idea in different words, but a quick trip through
the dictionary proved me wrong. After much pondering, I can see how both fit
into our disciplined lives.
That is, after all, what it is all about isn’t it…discipline? If I
resolve to cut back on the amount of time I spend playing video games, for example,
it is going to take discipline and will-power to change an event in my life
that gives me pleasure and relaxation. If I resolve to stop talking about
people behind their backs, the same principle applies. In both cases, I will
need to walk away from the situation of temptation and do something else.
I think that is why, in the case of sin, it is a resolution. We don’t say
we will set a goal of not viewing pornography by the end of the year, and
decide how much we can view every month until we achieve our goal. No, we have
to stop it. We have to find support groups or programs or good reading or a
spiritual adviser or a personal confession buddy who will hold us accountable
and strengthen us in our resolve. It is sin and it must stop.
For the betterment of our lives, both physical and spiritual, however, I
really like Frank’s idea of setting goals. If my goal for 2014 is to increase
my morning prayer time from 10 minutes to 30 minutes, then I can set the clear
objective of adding 2 minutes every month until I reach my goal. If I never
attend daily Mass and want to do so, then my objective could be to go once a
week for a month and then increase it by one day every month.
St. Paul tells us that he resolved to know nothing but Jesus, Christ
crucified, while he was with his followers. That is probably the best
resolution I can think of. The old Baltimore Catechism told us the true purpose
of life: to know, love and serve God in this world so that we can be happy with
Him in the next. Let’s put our time and energy this year into achieving that
goal by resolving to make God first in our lives, and then by setting clear and
attainable objectives to reaching the finish line. Sounds like a plan to me!!
St. Paul, pray for us.
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