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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me work on my New Year's resolutions! Amen.

After Jesus was born, three wise men came to King Herod, asking, "Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We followed His star here to worship Him." Herod worried this "new king" might take over, so he sent the wise men to find Jesus and come back. They found Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, and brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But an angel warned them that Herod would kill Jesus, so instead of returning, they went home another way.

Happy New Year! Are you making any New Year's resolutions? A lot of people try to start a new year by acting in new, healthier ways. You might make a resolution to stop eating so much candy, be nicer to your brother or sister, or pay more attention in faith formation.

One of King Herod's New Year's resolutions should have been to stop lying. In this week's Gospel (Matthew 2:1-12), he lies to the three wise men - and, worse, he's planning to do a terrible thing and hurt baby Jesus!

New Year's resolutions are about starting over again to try and be good. No one keeps their resolutions perfectly, but it's good to promise that you'll work on something: getting up in the morning without being cranky, for example, or actually cleaning your room when you're told to.

Herod obviously didn't make any New Year's resolutions. When he heard about Jesus being born, he decided to kill Jesus to make sure Jesus wouldn't take over Herod's kingdom. He lied to the wise men about that and sent them out to find Jesus and report back.

Thankfully, the wise men must have been working on their own promises to be good and stay close to God. They found the baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph and worshipped Him, and they gave Him gifts - but they didn't go back to Herod.

Whatever New Year's resolution you make, be kind to yourself about keeping it. As long as you're working on it, you're doing a better job than Herod![[In-content Ad]]

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