Making resolutions for the new year is a great tradition. We have done it for years and invariably about this time each year, the ads start that play on our emotions. "Have you already broken your new year's resolution," they ask. "You can't do it on your own," they nag. They are right about one thing. It is very tough to do things on our own. We need support and that is where our God comes in. He is always there waiting for us to ask for help and yet we seem to forget about Him until we are either trying to win the lottery or asking that our favorite sports team march to victory. I am pretty sure that God doesn't care about either of those things but He truly cares about us. In fact, God is always thinking about us. How comforting is that fact? So are you ready to be really bold in 2016? Take a chance and ask God to use you as his earthen vessel. See what He really wants you to do. As soon as you ask God to put you in the place where He most wants you to be, you will see a change in your life. You will be moved from focusing on yourself and placed in a position where you will be helping others. Now the great thing about that movement is it will also make your life better. Helping others is a great way to change your life. You begin to see the good in people. You begin to live out Jesus's command that we love others as we love ourselves. Being a good neighbor isn't easy but the rewards are so great. So back to our resolutions for 2016. Why not try something different and offer yourself to God fully?
The twelve apostles chosen by Jesus formed the bedrock of the early Church , and their Catholic identity is deeply rooted in their direct relationship with Christ and the mission He entrusted to them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church highlights this foundational role, stating that Jesus "instituted the Twelve as 'the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy'" ( CCC 860 ). These men were not simply followers; they were handpicked by Jesus, lived intimately with Him, witnessed His miracles and teachings firsthand, and were specifically commissioned to preach the Gospel to all nations ( Matthew 28:19-20 ). Their unique position as eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and their reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, established them as the authoritative leaders of the nascent Church, a reality echoed in the writings of early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch, who emphasized the apostles' authority as repre...