Dear Parish,
Labor Day this year arrived early. Already, we find ourselves getting back into the swing of things. Back into the routines of school and sports and homelife. Summer is fading into the rearview and all the pumpkin drinks await us, along with the cooler temps, and our upcoming Harvest Festival on October 4th, save the date!
September is a great month to take stock of the lessons of Summer: what has God been sharing with you? How has our Lord been inviting you to grow? What are your best memories from the Summer? These first few weeks of September are a great time to review and retain. Try some journaling. They are also good weeks to look forward and plan for the season ahead. Labor Day and the back-to-school happenings are like a crossroads to be retrospective, introspective, and future-spective (is that a word?).
As these weeks ramp up, we throw ourselves into activity, beware of avoiding these harder and more thoughtful times of prayer and reflection, due to busy-ness or schedule changes. Do not let these weeks just slip by. This change of pace is a wonderful time to embrace new habits and respond to God’s graces. Habits of daily prayer, Sunday Mass, prayer as family, uplifting music, or even fasting - this is an exciting time to begin again with renewed fervor.
Have you established a fixed and sacred time for your daily prayer? Maybe during the Summer that routine had to be scrapped or altered. Now is the time to be intentional and begin again, or even to start or adjust a daily prayer period. When is the best time for 15 minutes each day? First thing in the morning, and then also the silence of the evening works the best for me. I strive to reserve these special times for God to speak to me, and I have found that creating that sacred space helps the entire day to be more contemplative and connected.
One great tool for daily prayer is called The Prayer Process; it is such a useful step-by-step routine to help us enter into prayer. Also, the Hallow app offers such a useful array - both for adults and children - I highly recommend it for the whole family! A tool to make daily Grace before Meals interesting could be this Prayer Cube. There are so many ways to bring God into each day and keep the memory of Him alive in our hearts.
What newness would you like to incorporate into your routine this Fall? I remember as a kid having a trapper keeper, and the great sense of satisfaction that came from being organized - folders for every class. Even covering our books with paper shopping bags was such a satisfying part of getting back to school and looking forward to the daily structured routine of life. (Does that make me sound too nerdy?)
People say if you want something done, ask a busy person. Because the activity becomes in a way its own structure to accomplish what is necessary. These are the weeks to prayerfully look over the Summer and to look ahead to the Fall, and to plan for what is possible. I would invite you to make more room for God and allow Him to speak to you so that you can grow in His graces.
May God bless this time of crossroads!
Fr. Wilson
