Ah, New Year’s resolutions. The world first tells us to make them, promising success if we purchase this, this, and this. Then the world likes to rub it in our faces so that by day 6 most of us have given up. Day 6! Not even a full week.
Saints
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: Passion for God, Compassion for the Poor and a Zeal for Souls
Anti-Catholic sentiment remained quite virulent in America at the time; therefore Elizabeth knew the decision to become Catholic was sure to cause alienation from friends and family—a very serious consequence, since as a widow with children she was in dire need of financial support.
St. John of the Cross: “Do Not Seek Christ Without The Cross”
Caught in a dispute between the Carmelites of the Mitigated Observance and the Carmelites of the Reform, St. John of the Cross was accused of monastic disobedience and imprisoned in December of 1577 at the Monastery of Toledo. For the next nine months, he was locked in a six-by-ten-foot cell, with only meager light filtering in from a small slit high up on one wall.
Solemnity of All Saints: What Does It Mean To Be A Saint?
The saints teach us what the meaning of life really is. By their unique deeds and words, they show forth the love of God in its radiant depth and beauty, and point us toward not simply the fullness of living in the here and now, but the goal of every human person: eternal life in union with God.
St. Ignatius of Antioch Teaches Us the Goal of Human Life is God
The life and teaching of St. Ignatius clearly point to the sublime and lofty goal of human nature: eternal communion with God. Man is made for something—Someone—infinitely greater and higher than creatures or created things.