SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE:

We again begin another new year. Last year was an economic disaster, and there is no sign that things will change in the near future. But you’re not reading this to hear more bad news, so I will focus on something positive.

May I propose that each of us has an opportunity to get back to basics? Difficulties often lead us to examine more closely “what went wrong� and give us the desire to change what we can. At our parish, we are seeing more people attend Mass and pray during different times of the day.

Why is it that when things are going well, our tendency is to spend less time with God or to acknowledge the ways in which he has blessed us? We often need to hit rock bottom (or at least near rock bottom) before we will acknowledge how we are not in control here — God is.

One thing many people are discovering is that they are able to do without many or at least some of the luxuries to which they have gotten accustomed.

I know that at least for myself, the less I am distracted with unimportant things, the more I focus on God, on my relationship with Him, and on the realization that I need Him. If there is one positive thing about the economic crisis, it is that by necessity we are doing with less, therefore leaving more room for God.

Though this New Year may be one of downsizing, may it result in growth in other areas of our lives, the areas that perhaps now will receive the attention they deserve.

FATHER STEPHEN DOKTORCZYK is a priest at St. Joachim Church in Costa Mesa.