Ready or not, the new year is here — and with it our annual opportunity to take stock and set goals, with a little help from Pope Francis.

Covid-19, the 2020 election and racial justice remained hot topics in 2021. But the past year also brought new debates within the Catholic Church, including over the Latin Mass.

The documentary, based on Francis’ 2018 book “Sharing the Wisdom of Time,” addresses fundamental lessons to be learned through the experiences of the elderly: love, dreams, struggle and work.

I spent the past year writing about the economy through the lens of Catholic social teaching. Here’s what I learned.

In his letter to families, like in “Amoris Laetitia,” Pope Francis paid tribute to the strength and tenacity of couples as they face real difficulties together on the journey of life.

“The Word became flesh in order to dialogue with us,” he insisted. “God does not desire to carry on a monologue, but a dialogue. For God himself—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is dialogue, an eternal and infinite communion of love and life.”