Let's have a different type of summer this year. Let's realize that this is a great time to grow in our faith and to share it.
Here are five simple Summery things you can do:
1. Feed your faith first. Discover a nearby summer parish while on vacation and worship there on Sundays with your new vacation community. After all, we are called "catholic" (which means "universal" in Greek) because we are everywhere. In particular, pray for the poor and those who will never have a vacation from their labor. Use your vacation to "give back" a bit - volunteer, or give a summer offering to Catholic Relief Services or Catholic Charities, for example.
2. Sign up for tweets from Pope Francis @pontifex. Read what he has to say each day on your smartphone. Retweet him now and again. Also, check out his daily homilies at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/cotidie/2013/index_en.htm They are short and to the point. Please let your family and friends know about these tidbits of papal wisdom.
3. Use your summer vacation to write little notes to your children and grandchildren about how much you love them! Include a few sentences about how much you pray for them (you do, right?). Let them know why your Catholic Faith has been so important to you through the years. And don't forget to always begin your writings (emails too!) with JMJ - Jesus, Mary and Joseph - or AMDG - Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam - for the greater glory of God - or some other phrase showing that God is first in your life.
4. Are you "connected" to the internet on vacation? if so, maybe "disconnect" for a few days. Chances are good that you will feel more peaceful and more attuned to the beauty around you. Tell your internet friends the results when you "reconnect." Give God online credit for these gifts when you reconnect. After all, God is the maker of all good things - it is His peace and beauty you are rediscovering on vacation!
5. Show your faith. Wear your beautiful cross necklace. Pray the rosary in your Adirondack chair. Get that religious tattoo you've thought about for years - a cross, the Holy Face of Jesus, Our Lady of Guadalupe, etc. (assuming you're over 18!). Read the Bible in your cottage. Make a summer commitment to daily morning (lauds) or evening (vespers) prayer with the Church. Read at least one religious book. When people ask you about these things, mention how much your faith means to you. Be willing to follow up with them or refer them to someone who can answer their questions.
In a previous blog post we gave a great prayer to say often during summer - (the Benedicite from the Book of Daniel).
Have a truly blessed summer!