Adult Education: June 2009

Making Summer Sacred

By Lorene Hanley Duquin

Summertime is the perfect season for rest, relaxation, recreation, and recharging your spiritual batteries.   Most people have the easy living and exercise parts of summer down pat.  But the spiritual side of summer is sometimes overlooked.

Here are some ideas on how you can use the summer months to renew your relationship with the Lord!

• Try to go to morning Mass every day during the summer.  It’s a great way to start your day.
•  Take a prayer walk every day.  Whether you walk in the woods, on the beach, or in the neighborhood, the beauty of nature will help restore you physically and spiritually.
• Set aside time one day a week for spiritual reading.  Maybe you’ve wanted to start reading scripture.  Or maybe there are some spiritual writers that you’ve wanted to read.
• Keep a spiritual journal for the summer.  Whether you write in the journal every morning or every evening, it gives you a chance to reflect on spiritual thoughts, inspirations and ways that you experience God’s presence during the course of a day.
• Plan to spend one whole day in prayer and reflection.  Whether you go to a retreat house for a day of reflection or stay at home, it will be like your own personal vacation day with God.
•  Take a course or attend a lecture series.  Check out the offerings at summer institutes or Catholic colleges or seminaries.

The time you spend this summer restoring your spirit will reap rewards in the fall when life begins to rev up again!  You may even find that you want to continue some of your summer spiritual exercises throughout the year!