Where Has the Summer Gone?

If your summer has been anything like mine, it is simply flying by. Before we know it, autumn will be here, and with it, all the swing of regular activity…

With just about one month left of “vacation”, it would do us all some good to pause a moment and ask ourselves: have I been making good use of these past months? What have I done to further the Kingdom of God – through service, prayer, worship? What have I done to carry forth the love of Christ? Summer is a time like no other to do something voluntarily for others – whether it be working in a soup kitchen, helping out a young mother with her small children (how about taking them to the park for an afternoon so she can get her errands done?), volunteering to clean your parish church, making a meal for a shut-in, going on your own to daily Mass, making some extra holy hours of adoration, praying the rosary on your own, sending a spiritual bouquet of rosaries or Masses to someone in need, inviting your pastor over for dinner, visiting the abandoned elderly at a nursing home…the possibilities are endless!

That is my challenge to you: this month, do something to serve that would be out-of-the ordinary for you. Perhaps even something that might cause a little discomfort or sacrifice, something that you’ve always claimed was “out of your league”, or something that you’ve selfishly avoided.

Lord, help us remain with You constantly this month – in work and in leisure.