Weekly Reflection 08/01/2021

August 1, 2021

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Summer Prayer Time

Summer is a time of respite and relaxation.  We get out of our routines in an attempt to refresh our mind, body and spirit.  We spend more time in nature; be it tending to our gardens, walking along a wooded path or viewing wildlife venturing into our backyard.

While discovering our Lord in the Holy Bible or receiving Christ in the Mass is essential, finding Him in nature offers us a unique prayer experience.  When we travel to such places let us not leave God behind.  Instead, take some time to let Him fill our senses with His glory.  Carve out some moments each day to be quiet with the Lord.  Stand on a mountain top and take in the view.  Contemplate the beauty of the world around us from a cabin porch in the early morning.  Sit around a campfire at night watching the flames turn to embers and feel God’s peace.

For many of us at this time of the year we are called to the seashore, more specifically the Atlantic Ocean. If that is your destination, plan to go to the beach early one morning. Lookout on the ocean and contemplate the vastness of God. Listen to the repetition of the waves and understand God’s constancy. Watch the gulls in flight just above the surface of the water or the sandpipers as they dance with the incoming surf and recognize our place with them on this earth. Relish the joy of God’s gift of life to us  expressed in the dolphins’ frolicsome leaping in their watery playground. Observe the sand between your toes and fingers and find peace in the knowledge that, like a grain of sand, no matter how small we may feel our God created us and loves us beyond measure. Then sit back, close your eyes and feel the warmth of that love as it penetrates our entire being like the early morning sun.

This summer, search for God and you will find Him all around you.

– Patrick J. Perkins