Spiritual Growth for the New Year

General Introduction
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III calls believers to begin the new year with a spirit of repentance and continuous growth, warning against the whispers of the “New Year devils” that try to extinguish spiritual zeal.

Repentance and Thanksgiving
The listener is urged to confess his sins of the past year without entering into details that awaken lust or regret, and to begin a life of thanksgiving to God for His concealment, preservation, and for granting a new year.

Hope and Spiritual Maturity
Christian hope is required — a trust that God will bless and set things right — while paying special attention to persistent sins which, if they remain, show the absence of true repentance.

Organizing Time and a Spiritual Plan
A recommendation to organize time so there are sessions with oneself and sessions with God, and to set a spiritual plan that includes prayer, fasting, and inner purity, not only outward matters.

Measure Depth Not Length
Emphasis on the depth of prayer and fasting and self-control: prayer with faith, with reverence, and understanding; fasting that includes self-discipline and spiritual aspects, not merely bodily abstinence.

Stretching Toward Perfection and Continuous Growth
Inspired by the Apostle Paul and his example, the call is to forget what is behind and to strive for deeper virtues, because the life of holiness requires continuous growth, not standing still or repeating sin.

Practical Depth: Faithfulness and Growth in Service
Stress on personal faithfulness before God in thought, speech, and deed, and growth in service to others either in number or in the depth of their spirituality, with the promise that the fruits of the Spirit and spiritual gifts come with growth in virtues.

Simple Spiritual Training
A suggestion for a simple daily training: begin the day with a word to God, making Him the first and last one spoken to daily, partnering with God in every work and word, and committing to faithfulness according to one’s strength while asking God’s grace in weakness.

Spiritual Conclusion
An appeal that the new year be a year of true transformation in which the believer feels inner renewal and the sweetness of life with God, and that the life of the church and the individual show signs of real and fruitful spiritual growth.

Spiritual Growth

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