Gaining Traction in this New Calendar Year of 2021

With 2021 slowly gaining traction, let's take a step back for just a few moments even as we diligently perform the duties of our state of life, especially those related to our work. As we do, let's consider our goals, our ambitions for this Year of Our Lord 2021. I know mine. What are yours?

Ideally, you have already thought through, written down, and committed yourself to some goal or goals for this New Year. Indeed, we posted one suggested methodology for doing so as the last weeks of the Liturgical Year wound down, before the 1st Sunday of Advent. If you followed along then, you already began to address those goals when the new Liturgical Year began. If not, maybe you considered the new calendar year as the appropriate starting point. And if you haven't even gotten that far, well, there's still time. It's only January, after all. 

Whatever the current state of your goal-setting and execution, one simple bit of advice to consider might be not to take it all so seriously. Not that your goals are unimportant, or that your work should be done in a lackadaisical fashion. Your goals are important. Ditto for your work, done for the greater glory of God. But if we recall the importance of our spiritual life in all this, we gain some perspective with our goals and with our work. Their value can only be determined in the context of how they serve our progress in growing closer to God - the meaning and purpose of our spiritual life.

With that, let's place all our goals and aspiration for this New Year in one big basket and make them an offering to God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Doing so, we confirm that all our goals and aspirations will not serve to distance us from God, but serve rather to bring us closer to Him. And if any aspect of these are discovered to be unworthy of God, or contradict our desire to build up our relationship with Him, we can, right now, discard the offender or offenders. Leave them behind before they corrode our efforts to sanctify all we do, particularly our work.

Now that we have thoughtfully considered our goals, both personal and work-related, as a primary means of sanctifying our thoughts, words, and deeds this day, and every day of the coming year. let's turn to ourselves. 

Should we achieve any degree of success in our daily endeavors, we pray for the grace to avoid even the inkling of self-satisfaction or self-aggrandizement (vainglory). The glory goes to God, not to us. Even as we recognize our right to expect to be compensated fairly for our labor, let us be thankful when we are so compensated. Even as we endeavor to correct or improve our current circumstances if our work somehow has short-changed us, based on the merits of our efforts, let us place our desire for improvement in God's Hand, once we have done all we can to put things right.

In our reliance upon God, and our gratitude for all His blessings, we can turn to Our Blessed Mother as we struggle for any degree of success we achieve this year, small or great though it may be. She can serve as an example for us, an example that puts all our efforts in their proper place. Simply look at her holy perfection. It will allow us to preserve and build the humility we need to make the offering of our thoughts, words, and deeds a worthy one in the coming year.

Here is a wonderful description of Our Lady from The Inner Life of the Soul:

"Gather earth's purest and loveliest things together, the lily of the valley and the whitest of roses, the snowflakes still falling untouched by soil of earth, the untarnished clouds of heaven, the pearl from the sea-depths and the diamond clear as the dew, the babe with the waters of baptism still upon its brow, and the dying saint with the cleansing oils not dry upon him, the angels from the never-sinning choirs, and Michael from his high place where he looks up, unmarred by slightest fault or imperfection, reverently but steadily, upon the face of God : what are they but glad types and images of her who is fairest, purest, immaculate, sovereign lady of the angels, empress of the universe, daughter of the Father, mother of the Son, spouse of the Holy Ghost, queen of the boundless realm where God is king!"

However hard we work, whatever success we achieve, the reality of Our Lady's holy perfection can serve to keep us humble.

With out attention properly focused on God and our work, 2021 commences. How it turns out, we'll soon begin to see. But whatever our results, just recall that work done for the greater glory of God will be our greatest work.