Article #9 - Seventh Series - January 9th, 2024 by Fr. Ben Daghir

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Article #9 -  Seventh Series - January 9th, 2024 by Fr. Ben Daghir

Editor's Note: This article is a summary of a homily from Fr. Ben Daghir. He preached this homily on January 4, 2023 to the students at DuBois Central Catholic School System. The homily focuses on setting goals at the start of a new year. It also stresses the importance of answering Jesus' question in the Gospel, "What are you looking for?"

Article:
It’s extremely important to set goals. Many people at the start of a new year make “New Year’s resolutions.” It’s a natural aspect of our humanity to set goals. We desire to raise the bar, accomplish more, and simply improve. 

I’ve spent the past several days (for about an hour and a half each day) reflecting on several aspects of my life. I certainly have areas to improve in my life and I’m excited to grow. Here are some areas that I’ve reflected upon: my habits, daily routine, finances, nutrition, exercise routine, hobbies, relationships, phone/computer usage, sleep, friendships, dreams and goals, worries, fears, prayer life, etc. 

It’s extremely important to not only set goals, but also to reflect on one’s life in order to see where to specifically improve. Our goals have to be specific, concrete.  

Jesus says to the disciples in today’s Gospel, “What are you looking for?” This is a brilliant question. I’ve spent the past several days reevaluating my life because I’m looking for improvement, growth, change, and a stronger relationship with God. I want to achieve goals this year. I want to live out some of these New Year’s resolutions. 

I remember learning in seminary about the word telos. The word means “end” or “goal.” Of course, the word “telescope” comes from this Greek word. A telescope looks to the end of things (like beyond what the human eye can see and out into space, stars, planets, etc.) This is incredibly important for achieving our long-term goals. We must look out ahead and see the goal in the distance and it must be something beyond our current grasp. We must keep our eyes on the goal as we work our way toward it. If we lose sight of the goal, we’ll lose motivation. In other words, NASA saw the moon in the telescope long before we stepped foot on the moon. Our goals are no different. We must constantly look at them. 

Jesus asked in today’s Gospel, “What are you looking for?” With His grace, we can answer this question, identify our goals, and achieve them. Even better, we ought to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ. He is, of course, who we are ultimately looking for in the depths of our hearts. 
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Fr. Ben Daghir is a priest for the Diocese of Erie. He is a graduate of Elk County Catholic High School in Saint Marys, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, and St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He considers writing one of his favorite hobbies.