Matthew 1 Resolutions
Joseph, Son of David, Do Not Fear
1. I will spend an hour researching our family genealogy.
2. I will share a family genealogy with my children.
3. I will ask the Lord how I may become a more "just man".
4. I will find an opportunity to retell the story of my proposing marriage to my wife.
5. I will ask the Lord to increase my courage in the face of present fears.
6. I will ask my wife what fears she has in our present life, and I will pray aloud with her for faith, confidence, and courage.
7. I will share with my children the origin and the meaning of the names we chose for them.
Luke 1 Resolutions
Joseph's Support of His Bride
1. I will express interest in hearing how my wife's prayer is going and what the Lord is saying to her.
2. I will ask the Lord in prayer, "What are you daring me to do?"
3. I will propose to the Lord in prayer, "If I had no fear, what I would do for You is..."
4. I will encourage my wife to Skype with someone in her family this week.
5. I will praise some aspect of my wife's family to her and to my children.
6. I will encourage my wife to find an opportunity for a women's group or women's retreat.
7. I will ask my wife if she would think it valuable for me to join a men's group.
Luke 2:1-38 Resolutions
Joseph's Submission to God
1. I will pray the Serenity Prayer in relation to political and economic conditions in my life.
2. I will spend time remembering and thanking God for bringing me through previous seasons of uncertainty, poverty, and crisis.
3. I will ask God to reveal to me more about each of my children's gifts and needs.
4. I will ask a close friend what they see as my children's gifts and needs.
5. I will make a list of challenges for each of my children to accomplish in the coming year.
6. I will offer a voluntary penance for a specific grace needed for our family.
7. I will invite a child to join me in offering a penance for a specific grace needed for our family.
8. I will write a note of thanks to a pastor, youth minister, DRE, or other parish leader for a specific grace received in my family through an event at the parish.
9. I will ask a man to pray for my family, and share with me the fruits of his prayer.
Matthew 2 Resolutions
Mary's Submission to Joseph
1. I will create an inventory of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for each of my individual children.
2. I will consult my wife to create an inventory of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the life of our family.
3. I will establish a new boundary for myself to secure my growth as a Christian.
4. I will consult my wife on age-appropriate boundaries for the use of media in our home.
5. I will make a list of financial facts and skills to train my children in.
6. I will share with my children how our family has chosen to tithe.
7. I will meditate in prayer on God’s provision during sudden crises in our family’s past.
8. I will pray Psalm 23 or 27 as an exercise of trust in God through crisis.
9. I will read a Scripture with my wife and share its meaning to me with her.
10. I will read and explain a story from the Bible with my children.
11. I will thank my wife again for trusting me when she followed me into something she did not at first prefer.
12. I will ask God to reveal an area of my marriage or family that requires conversion and change, and ask God for the courage and grace to initiate conversation and a timeline for change.
Luke 2:39-52 Resolutions
Joseph's Leadership of Jesus
1. I will write a note of thanks to my parents for the “home” they raised me in, and the ways they have helped me to establish “home” for my own family.
2. I will invite a neighbor, a co-worker, or a parishioner who has never been in my home to a meal in my home.
3. I will commit to a new habit of physical exercise.
4. I will exercise with one of my children.
5. I will read a book.
6. I will share something that I am reading with my family.
7. I will increase a spiritual discipline in my life.
8. I will lead my family in the practice of a devotion (Lectio Divina, rosary, stations of the Cross).
9. I will schedule with my wife our next intentional family vacation, and include an element of pilgrimage (shrine, cathedral, saints relics, etc).
10. I will lead my family in a regular family prayer at the end of Mass.
11. I will schedule a religious Feast Day at my house that includes prayer, food, music, festivity, and guests.
12. I will consult a man who has children older than mine for wisdom about raising, communicating, and understanding my children as they grow older.
13. I will consult a man whose “best practices” I admire about preparing, initiating, and launching my children into adulthood.
