“New Year’s Day. In the pre-Christian era it was celebrated with great solemnity both by the Jews, who reckoned the year from the Feast of the New Moon at the end of Sept., and in the pagan empire, Acc. to the Julian Calendar, the Roman year began on 1 Jan., and the day was marked by the ‘Saturnalia’. Christians were not only forbidden to participate in these festivities but even had special fasts and Masses of expiation on the day, facts attested by the Second Council of Tours (567), and several Sacramentaries containing Masses and Offices ad prohibendum ab idolis. The later Christian practice of reckoning at the beginning of the year varied acc. to the different countries. In England from early times the year began with the Feast of the *Annunciation (25 Mar.), in Germany with *Christmas, and in France and the Low Countries with *Easter. Since *Gregory XIII’s reform of the calendar in 1582, 1 Jan. came to be generally adopted as the first day of the year on the Continent, though this date was not accepted in England until 1752. In the E. *Orthodox Church, New Year’s Day (here, 1 Sept.) is solemnized in many hymns, but in the W. until recent years the day had no liturgical significance, except for the fact of its coinciding with the Feast of the *Circumcision (q. v.). In the RC Church, it was designated as the Octave of the Nativity of Christ in 1960; it is now also observed as the. Solemnity of the Motherhood of the BVM In England the custom of an informal ‘watch-night’ service, however, on the night of 31 Dec.–1 Jan. is often met with, esp. in the *Methodist Church.”
F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 1151.
Choose in the New Year to make certain pledges to improve your image, look, and weight. Care about how God created you. This is not a vain gesture but one of hygiene. Do this for your wife or your children (if you think it doesn’t matter, you don’t know your kids). Make necessary steps in the coming year to improve one (or two) things about your physical appearance that might shed a better light on your testimony. People are much more inclined to listen to a person who takes good care of themselves.
Take steps to reign in gluttony this season. Remember that gluttony is idolatry! Work on your caloric intake and choose to purge certain meals from your diet this year. Pick an unhealthy craving or guilty pleasure and add it to your prayer list to expunge it from your diet. This is not about weight loss (although it can be), this is about wellness. Light meals and controlled appetites = healthy living. Junk food is just that: Junk! View food as fuel; this is the best way to eat. Remember all things are for the glory of God; there is no glory in obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart disease.
Meaningful Masculinity 