The bucket list January 1, 2026By Archbishop William E. Lori Catholic Review Filed Under: Charity in Truth, Commentary All of us have a bucket list – things we want to do, achieve or own. For some, it may be a dream vacation. For others, it may be a job they’ve always wanted. For still others, it might be a new car or a bigger house. But deep within us, there is another kind of bucket we sometimes fill. I am referring to our emotional and spiritual buckets, our “interior buckets” that we fill with our thoughts, daydreams and feelings. We sometimes attempt to fill those buckets with noble aspirations. But often, we fill our interior buckets with harmful thoughts and feelings. There are three such buckets that we can so easily fill with toxic thoughts and feelings. The three are anxiety, anger and self-pity – three sets of emotions that travel together and feed on one another. Without dwelling too long on any one of them, let us nonetheless take a quick look at each of them. Who is a stranger to anxiety? Anxiety is more than fretting about a specific problem or loss. Anxiety is a foreboding feeling about life itself. It is a generalized, across-the-board feeling that makes us think the sky is falling – even when it’s not. We can experience anxiety when we are overworked, when our plans fall through, when relationships falter or simply when our troubles pile up, seemingly beyond our ability to deal with them in an orderly way. A first cousin to anxiety is anger. When anxiety gets the better of us, especially for a prolonged period, we start looking for culprits. “Who did this to me?” “Who makes me feel this way?” Often our anger turns to those nearest us – spouses, children, co-workers, friends and acquaintances. It expresses itself in lashing out, pouting or behaving in a passive-aggressive fashion. Often anger has little or no basis in fact. Feeling anxious and angry is a shortcut to self-pity. Bad things do happen to good people, and often we are in need of compassion. But self-pity is different. It’s feeling sorry for ourselves. Even without succumbing to paranoia, we start thinking that people are against us, even when they’re not. We tell ourselves we can do nothing right. What we touch turns not to gold, but dross. Self-pity is self-administered punishment, frequently followed by self-medication, like overeating, drinking too much and the like. A new year soon to be followed by Lent is a good time for you and me to empty our interior buckets of toxins and to fill them not with mere thoughts and feelings, but with qualities that spring from the heart of the Gospel itself. So, in place of anxiety, let us fill our inner bucket with the peace of Christ. In place of anger, let us fill our inner bucket with forgiveness. In place of self-pity, let us fill our inner self with thankfulness. Just as anxiety, anger and self-pity reinforce one another, so too, peace, forgiveness and gratitude reinforce one another. Emptying and filling our interior buckets is hard work. In fact, it can’t be done apart from the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who enables us to heed Jesus’ invitation, “Come to me, all you who are burdened and I will give you rest.” Jesus invites us to exchange our heavy yoke for his lighter burden – peace, forgiveness and thankfulness. We accept his invitation when we make an unburdening confession of our sins, devoutly participate in the Eucharist, read Scripture prayerfully, fast from food, drink and/or technology and go out of our way to serve those in need of our love. This is the path to inner joy throughout the year! Vivat Jesus! Read More Charity in Truth Letter to those entering the Church The ‘whine’ list A season for blooming Beyond fear At my doorstep Will It Ever End? Copyright © 2026 Catholic Review Media Print
