Shakespeare wrote that “…summer’s lease hath all too short a date…” (Sonnet, 18).
Whether we’re youngsters (or teachers) enjoying a break from school, adults getting a breather from regular routines, or finding refreshment at the shore, a lake, or the mountains, the summer is a time to rejuvenate ourselves, renew seasonal acquaintances, and to prepare ourselves for the demands of life that all too soon return.
Vacations, whether involving travel or just a change in routine, are necessary to keep us fresh, chase away cynicism and restore perspectives. Part of the restorative effect of summer is anticipating—looking forward to it amid present demands. Another part is the subsequent reflection oncherished memories from a completed vacation that stay with us and allow us to recall why we work hard. In fact, a measure of a good vacation is the amount of renewal we can bottle up and tap into as a continued restorative once we resume life's demands and routines.
If summer’s easing of routines allows us to renew friendships whether through greater time with, or proximity to, people we only see at seasonal destinations, an important part of summer should also be renewed time with God in prayer. Pope Francis called summer “a time to contemplate nature and regenerate ourselves in dialogue with God.” Pope Benedict spoke of vacations as a time, “to rest the body but also to nurture the
spirit.”
At the dawn of the new millennium, Pope Saint John Paul II, challenged us to “put out into the deep.” The Christian life, he went on to say, must be distinguished “in the art of prayer” adding, we cannot “be content with a shallow prayer that is unable to fill [the] whole of life.”
Saint Teresa of Avila, a sixteenth century Carmelite nun and Doctor of the Church was a master of prayer. She said prayer is “nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends, it means taking the time to be alone with Him who we know loves us.” So often during the year time is short and solitude hard to find. Good prayer habits can fall victim to incessant demands for our time and attention. Summer can afford us the chance to strike a better balance, to renew and deepen our friendship with God.
Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well (John 4:4-42) might inspire us to spend more time with the Lord in prayer. In the heat of the mid-day sun, the Samaritan woman goes to draw water at the well. She is looking for refreshment for her physical thirst. Instead, she encounters Jesus and enters into an intimate conversation with Him in which she discovers the Messiah. Jesus told her, “everyone who drinks this [well] water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman is so moved by her encounter with Jesus that she leaves her water jar behind at the well. In other words, while looking for physical refreshment, she found in Jesus a spiritual refreshment that made her forget about her pursuit of physical refreshment. While we seek physical and mental refreshment during summer, let us through deeper and more regular prayer find the greater spiritual refreshment that will truly renew us in July and August, throughout the year, and into eternity.
How might we go about this deeper prayer? For starters, let me suggest that in addition to weekly Mass, we redouble our efforts to make daily time to be alone with the Lord. Perhaps, it’s early in the morning or in the hush of the end of the day. Maybe it’s in a comfortable spot at home, a visit to Church outside of Mass, or in the beauty of nature. Be still and silent. Remind yourself that the Lord is present to you and loves you. Speak to Him from your heart. Bring to Him your hopes and dreams, your fears and regrets. Speak to Him of your needs, those of your loved ones and of the world. Thank Him, praise Him and trust in Him. You might take a short passage from Scripture, slowly read it, then prayerfully reflect upon what it reveals about God and what He may want of you.
Like the woman at the well, may you find Christ in your prayer. May you keep Him with you, not just as a memory to recall and a hope to reencounter, but as an abiding presence to accompany you in every season and circumstance.
By Bishop Richard F. Reidy