Deacon Tom writes
“Summer Makeover”
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
We all look forward to vacation. Whether we “head out
on the highway… looking for adventure”, or just try to find our own quiet
space to relax and just “be”, getting
away from it all is good for us. Relocating here nearly a year ago now, I have
had the opportunity of meeting many people who are here for summer vacation to
enjoy the many attractions in the area or who come here to escape the extreme winters
up north. My hope is that everyone is able to return home, refreshed and
renewed, and that we, as a parish family at St. Frances Cabrini, have provided
some spiritual nourishment for our guests during their stay.
Renewal is the subject matter of St. Paul’s Letter to the
Ephesians in which he speaks of renewing ourselves. He says to “…put away the old self of your former way of life….and be renewed in
the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way”.
Getting away on vacation in former times was more centered
on rest and relaxation, was more concerned about restoring our well-being while
having some fun at the same time… but things have changed and the tendency
today is to overextend our activities and our wallets. When you pay a ton of money for a day at
Disney you want to get your money’s worth… and you and the kids end up
exhausted, cranky, sunburned and, often, disappointed. Current events may be
telling us it is time to reconsider what vacations are all about!
Vacations are great times to recharge our batteries. They are an opportunity to break away
from the routines that we create to “organize” our busy lives. Vacations are a time to visit with
families, get to the mountains or the lakes, and enjoy the good things in
life. But most of all, vacations
are opportunities to set aside some time and space to renew that critical need
in our lives that we so often ignore: renewing our spirit. It is only by becoming the person
that Christ calls us to be that we can ever hope to find happiness in this
world. It is only by stepping into
that “new-self” that Christ has
designed for us that we will ever come to know and share in all the good things
that God has in store for us.
This idea of setting aside and space to renew our minds and
spirits is an essential activity we need to accomplish all the time and not
just when we are on vacation. There
is a Natural Law through which we are able to realize that all living things….
grow or die. There is no static
existence in nature! That goes for our spiritual lives as well! We must
constantly be in a growth mode; we must constantly struggle to become who we
are in Christ; we must engage in the battle over our selfishness, blind-greed,
ego-centric driven attitudes and activities so that we can die to the “old-self” and let that “new-self”, that “new creation” fashioned in the image of Christ evolve.
Whether our vacations this year are for a week or two or
whether we are on permanent vacation; whether this year’s vacations bring us to
the four corners of the world, or just to the four corners of our backyards,
they can still allow us the opportunity, quietness, and space to “be renewed in the spirit of our minds”, still
enable us to reflect on our lives, and to seek out that “new self” that God is calling us to be.
Enjoy this year’s summer or winter’s get away! May they be precious times of renewal
for mind, body, and spirit. And, may
we all discover the “new-self” within
us that Christ envisions for us.
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
