Dear Friends,
Here we are, in the midst of summer and all the adventuresome outdoor activities taking place in the beautiful world God has given us. I know many of you are traveling, sightseeing, visiting friends and relatives all around the country. Each Sunday we have visitors at Mass who are doing the same. Attendance is always down a bit during July because of parishioner’s travel plans, but we are still here to celebrate Mass with those of you who stayed in town and our visitors who are in Omaha for a couple days.
Facebook is full of last day of school pics, national parks and videos of kids water skiing or jumping into the pool for the first time. Grills are being put to perpetual use. Burgers, chlorine, cut grass, and sunscreen are the scents of summertime. It is good to take a breath. Take a break from school and work and get some distance from it before jumping into all the fall activities.
May I make a suggestion for a simple summer reflection in the midst of all the outdoor adventures? It comes from something that Deacons Omar Gutierrez and James Keating spoke about this past week. When you are lounging by a pool, sitting in the shade or by the lake, when you have put your summer read down for a moment to give your eyes a rest, when you are enjoying a cold beer after a strenuous game…take a few moments and…
Use the transcendentals of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness to reflect on how your life is going. Those three items bring us the deepest encounter with happiness. Instead of asking how much we did or measuring our success by how much we accomplished or made, we can look at those three things and ask ourselves about our encounters with them.
So, did we seek Beauty? Did we encounter the wonder of God’s creation? Did we see art that inspires our souls to stand in awe? Did we read books and poems that inspire the imagination and tell us about the human condition in all its spheres? Did we listen to great music? Did we laugh? Did we cry? Did we discover? Did we wonder?
Did we seek Goodness? Did our activity bring harmony and order to our souls? Did we train our hearts and our affections to recognize the Good and go after it? Did we pursue excellence or did we settle for something less?
Did we seek Truth? Did we wrestle with ideas? Did we allow ourselves to be confronted with things that were uncomfortable? Did we allow ourselves to say “I don’t know?” Were we in awe? Did we realize errors? Did we submit? Did we understand more of who we are and whose we are and who we are meant to be?
If we are seeking these things, then we encounter God. Happy summer!
Peace,
Fr. Damian