Focus on a renewed fidelity and obedience to the Lord

A most holy and happy new year to all! As we move to the year 2026, we do so in the best possible way. We begin a new calendar year by celebrating the beautiful Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. There is no other person better to accompany us throughout this coming year than the Most Blessed Mother of God.
 
The Holy Mass for this solemnity should inspire and invigorate our faith, hope and charity so that we can make this a year of the same fidelity to accepting and doing God’s will which Our Blessed Lady lived throughout Her entire life. What the holy season of Advent should have taught us is that unconditional fidelity to the Lord and His Church is what makes us saints, and is what is most pleasing to the Lord. This is, in a word, Our Blessed Mother.
 
As we publish this first issue for the year you will note a special article which will be printed in three parts through the March edition of the Dakota Catholic Action. It is one of several essays compiled in a book entitled “Out of the Shadows into the Truth,” published by the University of Mary Press with the express permission of Monsignor James P. Shea, President of the University of Mary. Monsignor had asked that I read the draft text to grant the Church’s “nihil obstat” and imprimatur. I found this article, as all the others, excellent reading for any Catholic and I urge you to read the one we publish here and, if you are interested, you may obtain a copy from the University of Mary bookstore.
 
The title of this three-part article is “Traditionalist, Progressive: Sorting Out the Catholic Tradition.” I found it to be a timely corrective for all Catholics. It is an excellent explanation of that essential element of our Catholic faith and life which is the true Tradition of the Church. It distinguishes the Apostolic Tradition from other traditions which have legitimately grown up within the Church but which are certainly not normative for Catholics of every age as is the Apostolic Tradition established by Jesus Christ on the confession of Peter’s faith and that of the other Apostles for whom he and his successors is the head. Finally, it distinguishes between the Apostolic Tradition and the static practices of some groups who claim to be Catholic but are not faithful to the Apostolic Tradition, whether by their liturgical practices or their different and selective interpretations of the Church’s Magisterium.
 
In the end, as we are taught by Our Blessed Lady, the Mother of God, it is unconditional fidelity to God and His Church that keeps us united to Him in this world and prepares us for that eternal communion with Him and all the saints in heaven. May this new year be one of renewed and strengthened fidelity and obedience to the Lord!