Resolutions Ordered to the Good: A Thomistic Guide to the New Year

Opening: Joy evangelizes (and kids teach us)

1. The “joyful demeanor” that opens doors to talking about Jesus (without getting weird).
2. A godfather breakfast on a baptism anniversary becomes a living lesson in evangelization.
3. “Five seconds” theology: most of our daily encounters are brief—so what do we do with them?

The Thomistic pivot: Why life feels like a blur

1. Time accelerates as you age; “someday” becomes a trap.
2. Many men feel stuck for 10–15 years—spiritually, vocationally, relationally, and in work.
3. The antidote isn’t bigger ambition—it’s better order.

Aquinas on happiness: What won’t satisfy

Aquinas method: name the end (happiness), then rule out false ends.

1. Wealth: money is a means, not a final end.
2. Honor / reputation: depends on others; happiness must be stable and interior.
3. Power: instrumental, addictive, and easily disguised as “leadership.”
4. Pleasure: real and good, but cannot be the end—pleasure perfects an act, it doesn’t define the goal.

The positive claim: What happiness actually is

1. Perfect happiness is the vision of God (beatific vision).
2. We can’t fully attain it in this life, but we can live an imperfect happiness by ordering our lives toward it.
3. Key shift: beatitude, not optimization.

Hierarchy of goods (practical framework for 2026)

Three filters for any resolution:

1. Is it ordered toward the highest good? (God, truth, contemplation)
2. Does it support your vocation? (husband/father, priest, etc.)
3. Does it treat lesser goods as means? (money, status, comfort serve the mission)

Concrete resolutions (small, durable, lifelong)

1. “Not huge shifts—small profitable habits that stick.”
2. Guarding silence and adding a few more minutes of contemplative prayer.
3. A reminder: you can “succeed” without prayer, but not in the way a Christian wants to succeed.

The closing medicine: Gratitude slows time

1. Gratitude grounds you in the present and breaks the “always next” mindset.
2. Hard to stay bitter when you’re truly thankful.
3. Cheers to Jesus—and to living the winning side like you mean it.