We just heard one of the most well-known analogies our Lord presents for what the life of a disciple should be like. Jesus says that the life of a disciple, of one who follows him, should be like salt and like light. Now, on their own salt and light don’t have a lot to offer; they instead build on other things, other truths. Salt works best when there’s food to put it on; no one who wants to live long ever has a meal of just salt. Likewise, light only reveals colours and shapes when there’s something for it to reflect off.

I’d like to consider, for a moment, how we’re called to be light for the world. We’re lucky in this era of GPS: there’s no more getting lost, no need to pull over and consult a map. But after the sun goes down, even with GPS, light is essential for safely navigating to a destination. Our cars have headlights for seeing what’s ahead, of course. But most of the lights on our cars aren’t to help the driver see, but for the benefit of everyone else on the road.

Break lights, hazard lights, turning lights: these all do nothing but let other drivers know you’re slowing down, or turning or have become an obstacle. My personal favourite is the double flash of high beams letting all on the road know the police are ahead, encouraging safety. All these lights, indicators and signals aren’t for the driver, but for everyone and they become useless if covered up.

But this analogy reveals a danger too, because it’s by light that we can see things we would rather not see. Want to hide the cobwebs in the corners of your house, just dim the lights. Don’t like how you look first thing in the morning? Just keep the lights off when passing the bathroom mirror. It’s easy to hide truth from our eyes, to keep the light covered. But our Saviour uses this analogy of light to illustrate more serious ways truth can be covered up. The need for forgiveness is easily covered up by excuses, the horrors of euthanasia or abortion are concealed by ignoring them, the suffering of others is hidden by blame: we’re tempted to cover these uncomfortable things up.

Jesus however, calls for truth to be revealed and why should we expect anything different. Jesus went to the cross for professing truth, that he is the Son of God. John the Baptist was put to death because he declared that God has expectations, laws, around Marriage. All but one of the first Apostles were martyred, not because of their kindness and generosity but because of how they were like light illuminating the truth of the resurrection of our Lord.

None of us may ever be called to be martyrs. But each of us have been placed in positions of influence, maybe because of special gifts, talents or skills, maybe because of a career decision, maybe as a parent or as a member of an organization, association or circle of friends. This is not by accident; it’s from these places, from where we find ourselves currently, that we are to be light for the world.

There’s a lot at stake here. Because when Christians are not light for the world, when they fail to reveal truth and illuminate that which is good and that which is bad, the world begins to fall apart. It’s sadly amazing that various forms of evil have sprung up in traditionally Christian places. How could Nazism have arisen in Christian Germany unless Christians failed to illuminate truth or how could the residential school system have thrived in Christian Canada for over a century unless Christians failed to reveal the truth of what was happening.

When salt has lost its saltiness, it’s incapable of contributing to our meals. When light is covered up, its unable to reveal truth. Maybe there are some here who feel that way, that they have lost their saltiness or the light of faith and that’s okay because our Saviour has an answer.

Inspired by the popular practice many have of making New Year’s Resolutions at the start of a New Year, we’ve been reflecting on habits this month. We know our world could be better. We know our lives could be better. We know we could be better. So, with hope that something, anything will be better by this time next year, many work to keep resolutions. The problem, however, is that resolutions are incredibly difficult to keep. It seems that free will is overrated, that there are limits for even the most strong-willed of us. So, we proposed that, instead of resolutions, one-off goals, it might be better to make new, good habits.

Habits are behaviours we do automatically; we don’t even have to think about them. Instead of being one-off goals with one-off rewards, habits are ongoing; they’re about continual, life-long improvement. Habits offer daily opportunity for success because they’re formed through a cycle. First, there’s a cue, something that triggers the habit. Then there’s the routine, the habitual action, followed by the reward, something that affirms the habit.

We observed how God can use even the smallest of habits to bring big changes. Because of their small habit of observing the stars of the night sky, the wise men were guided to Jesus and were among the first to honour him. If God can do that, he can use our small, good habits to guide us too.

We also reflected on how our habits ought to echo our call to holiness. The life of any holy person will always be marked by good habits. The Corinthians who lived in a Greek and hedonistic culture may never have developed the good habits needed to embrace the Good News on their own. But they weren’t on their own. The Christians of the city of Corinth accepted the strength offered by God present among them. God offers strength for his people and here, in the church, through the Eucharist, we accept his grace.

Last week, we explored how understanding our identity is extremely important when forming habits because our habits should reflect who we are. Those who don’t have a great grasp of who they are likely to develop unhealthy habits. But those who recognize how they are children of God invited to share in the joy, love, sacrifice and work of our Maker are likely to develop habits that reflect that truth. Andrew, Peter, James and John could only begin seeking holiness after Jesus reveled to them their true identity: They weren’t just fishermen, but his disciples.

Though habits may be easier to develop than resolutions, there’s still the challenge of motivation. In the beatitudes, Jesus announces blessings for those holding certain character traits. We know these are great traits to have and are happy to hold those who demonstrate these traits in high esteem. Often, we look for these traits when exploring the life of a saint.

But on self-reflection, while we find that each of us may demonstrate any of these traits at least a little bit, there’s always room for growth and some of the traits Jesus blesses we might truly struggle with. Now, when working to develop new habits, one approach might be to focus on building up traits you know you struggle with most, to work on eliminating the greatest shortfalls. But that can be hard. There’s a reason why some of those traits are difficult.

But, instead of beginning at where you’re lacking, another approach might be to start by looking at what you long for, what you hope for most. Each of the beatitudes come with a reward. Jesus promises mercy for those who are merciful, and consolation to those who mourn. Which reward would you like most? Remembering how rewards affirm habits, dwelling on the reward might give just the motivation needed to establish a new habit. For example those who wish to see God might develop habits that make for a pur...

I know we’re past the halfway point of January, but we’re still at the beginning of a new year and along with a new year comes new hope. We know our world could be better, we know our lives could be better, we know we could be better. Holding that hope, many make New Year’s Resolutions so that something, anything, will be different, will be better by this time next year.

But while we know things can be better and have every intention to create and keep the greatest of resolutions, it turns out that free will is overrated. We’re not as strong as we had hoped and the majority of us can’t reach or keep our resolutions. Recognizing and respecting our limits, we proposed here that instead of making annual resolutions, it might be better to make new, good habits. Habits are different than resolutions. Instead of being one-off goals, habits are ongoing; they’re about continual, life-long improvement. Habits are behaviours we do automatically; we don’t even have to think about them. Maybe there’s some here who talk to themselves when they’re alone; you know it’s a habit when you have to work at not talking to yourself when there’s others around.

Unlike resolutions, habits offer daily opportunity for success because they’re formed through a cycle. First, there’s a cue, something that triggers the habit. Then there’s the routine, the habitual action, followed by the reward, something that affirms the habit. So, if someone gets into an argument with a spouse; there’s a cue. Stressed, they automatically head out to go shopping; there’s the routine. Then the reward: they feel better for having spent a few hundred dollars on stuff they didn’t really need. That may be a habit, though not a great one.

We’ve observed how God can use even the smallest of habits to bring big changes to our lives. Because of their small habit of observing the stars of the night sky, the wise men were guided to Jesus and were among the first to honour him. If God can do that, he can use our small, good habits to guide us too.

Last week, we reflected on how our habits ought to echo our call to holiness. Living in a Greek and hedonistic culture, the Corinthians, may never have developed the good habits needed to embrace the Good News on their own. But they weren’t on their own. The Christians of the city of Corinth accepted the strength offered by God present among them. God offers strength for his people and here, in the church, through the Eucharist, we accept his grace. Saint Paul, the Corinthians and each of us are called by God to be holy and the life of any holy person will always be marked by good habits. 

Often, the hardest part of forming a new, good habit is knowing where to begin. So, I’d like to suggest that the best place to begin forming a new habit is to consider your identity, who you are. In the Gospel today, we heard of the moment when Jesus revealed to Andrew, Simon, James and John, how they were called to be his disciples. Before their encounter with Jesus, as far as they could determine, they were called to be fishermen and the habits they developed reflected their trade.

It’s easy to imagine these men having the good habits of good fishermen. We can picture them habitually rising early each day and automatically checking the weather before setting out to sea. Jesus found James and John cleaning and mending their nets; I’m sure that was a good habit for fishermen to have. Maybe they had good habits that helped them be good Jewish men, good fathers and husbands and members of the community. They could have had habits that helped them be kind and generous, respectful to others and considerate of God’s law. But they were more than fishermen or husbands or fathers and before they could begin truly serving God, Jesus had to reveal to the disciples their true identity.

I know there’s many here who have made New Year’s resolutions. Some have done well in keeping their resolutions so far, others are struggling and I’m sure there’s more than one here who have already given up. You’re in good company if that’s you; stats show that most give up their New Year’s resolutions by the second Friday of January. Then there’s the realists among us, like myself, who know they won’t keep resolutions, so they don’t even try.

Regardless of where you fall, we make resolutions because of a deep desire we all have. We know our world could be better. We know our lives could be better. We know we could be better and so we set goals so something, anything will be better by this time next year. But, despite the best of efforts and intentions, few have the strength to keep their resolutions.

Reflecting on this, last week we proposed that instead of making annual resolutions, it might be better to make new good habits. Habits are different than resolutions. Instead of being one-off goals, habits are ongoing; they’re about continual, life-long improvement. Habits are behaviours we do automatically; we don’t even have to think about them. For some, they automatically hit up Tim Horton’s on their way to work; they don’t decide to go, they just instinctively head there. Some just can’t go to sleep without a book in their hands. I’ve heard there’s some strange people who automatically make their bed up each day. While resolutions provide happiness only when the goal is achieved, habits offer continual opportunity for success.

Habits are formed through a cycle. First, there’s a cue, something that triggers the habit. Then there’s the routine, the habitual action followed by the reward, something that affirms the habit. So, you’re driving and someone cuts you off; there’s a cue. Then you automatically share the one-finger salute; there’s the routine. Then the reward: you feel better for giving the free driving lesson, right? I’m sure none here have such a habit.

Last week, we reflected on how God can use even the smallest of habits to bring big changes to our lives. Because of their small habit of observing the stars of the night sky, the wise men were guided to Jesus and were among the first to honour him. If God can do that, he can use our small, good habits to guide us too.

The second reading today comes from a letter Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians, the people of the city of Corinth. I found you can add that name to pretty much anything to make something sound extravagant. I know the pews of our church need some work, but I bet you would feel special sitting in them if I said they were made of Corinthian spruce and maybe the robes I’m wearing aren’t made of polyester but of Corinthian wool; very fancy.

But while Corinthian spruce and wool aren’t real things, the city of Corinth was; it was a very prosperous city in Greece and at the centre of the life of that city was a temple to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sex. You can imagine some of the big lifestyle changes the people of that city had to make before taking on new Christian habits. Saint Paul wrote to encourage the people through the transition and there’s a simple word he used to urge them; he used the word, ‘called’.

About himself, Saint Paul began his letter saying, “…Paul, called to be an Apostle…”[i]. The saint knew he had been called. He knew his efforts and his various habits would only matter and bear fruit so long as they reflected God’s call for him. The same was true for the Corinthians. So, Saint Paul reminded them of how they were, “…called to be holy…”[ii]. Oh, the people had already been sanctified,

I was just reading a statistic earlier this week suggesting that less than one in ten people are successful in keeping their New Year’s Resolutions and most people give up on their resolutions by the second Friday of January. Now, I’m not the superstitious type, but this year the second Friday of January is Friday the 13th. Personally, I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions because I know I won’t keep them. But, I will say and extra prayer for those of you who have made resolutions.

One thing I do find interesting is how people in different parts of the world are inclined to make different kinds of resolutions. In North America, the top resolution is to exercise more. In Poland, the top resolution is to save more money. In South Korea, it’s to get a better job. In India, it’s to waste less time. I couldn’t find any stat for any place in Africa.

Though the differing values of different cultures may shape the resolutions people make, I think this practice of making resolutions points out a deeper desire all people have. We make resolutions because we know our world could be better. We know our lives could be better. We know we could be better. But despite the best desires and best efforts, few have the strength needed to keep their resolutions.

I wonder if keeping resolutions is so difficult because we aim too high. We know big changes are needed in life and in the world and because we’re impatient we’re tempted to set goals that are just too big. If you’ve resolved to go to the gym for an hour each day, I wish you all the best; but the realist in me is very sceptical.

So, for those of us who struggle with resolutions, for those of us who fall among the great crowd who will probably abandon their efforts by Friday, I’d like to suggest: instead of making resolutions, what about making habits?

Habits are different than resolutions. Resolutions have conclusions. Once the goal is reached, once the weight is lost, the money saved or the new job realized, the resolution comes to an end and then we can feel happy and satisfied. But in the meantime, while striving for the goal, the pressure, anxiety and sacrifice is just draining and a loss of focus fueled by fatigue easily leads to failure.

Habits are different, however. Instead of being one-off goals, habits are ongoing; they’re about continual improvement. They’re much smaller in scope, but continuous, often even life-long. While resolutions only provide happiness when the goal is achieved, habits offer continual opportunity for success.

A habit is something we do regularly and automatically; we don’t even have to think about it. You get in the car and do up the seatbelt without having to think about it. There’s lots of morning habits. Some instinctively gravitate to the coffee maker after waking. Others automatically check their phone for new messages; some, still half asleep, have a habit of doing both.

I don’t know if any of the saints made New Year’s Resolutions, but I know they all had some great habits. So this year, I’d like to encourage you to form one positive habit, to form one small practice that will hopefully become a positive automatic pattern in your life.

To do that, it’s helpful to understand the cycle that makes up habits. First, there’s a cue, then a routine and then a reward affirming the routine. So, for example: you change your clothes; that’s the cue. Then you put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket; there’s the routine. Then, your spouse doesn’t nag you for leaving dirty clothes all over; there’s a reward affirming the routine. It’s a cycle that can be used to build new habits.

Many habits may seem like tiny daily routines, but they can have a huge impact. In the Gospel for today,