June, 2015
Peace to each of your hearts!
On this rainy, damp and somewhat chilly first day of June, it’s a little difficult to take the leap into summer, but the humidity outside reminds that summer is nipping at our heels and ready to provide us with time to rest, relax, and recreate. Hopefully, your schedule will give you an opportunity to enjoy some R&R in the weeks ahead.
Indulge in a little minute meditation and imagine yourself at the beach, listening to the sea crashing against the shore, the constant squawking and screeching of seagulls, the laughter of children around you, the sound of play, the exuberant “Yippee” of a fisherman who has caught his first fish … breathe in the fresh salty air, feel the sand beneath your toes and the soft sea breeze as it brushes across your face. No newspapers, no IPads, no tech gadgets, no cellphones to distract you, just the sea, the sand, the sights, the sounds and you … unplugged and untethered … ah, bliss and unadulterated joy! Now that you’re relaxed, consider these thoughts of our Holy Father, Pope Francis who, in his Apostolic Letter regarding the Year of Consecrated Life, has said,
We are called to know and show that God is able to fill our hearts to the brim with happiness; that we need not seek our happiness elsewhere; that the authentic fraternity found in our communities increases our joy; and that our total self-giving in service to the Church, to families and young people, to the elderly and the poor, brings us life-long personal fulfilment.
None of us should be dour, discontented and dissatisfied, for “a gloomy disciple is a disciple of gloom”. Like everyone else, we have our troubles, our dark nights of the soul, our disappointments and infirmities, our experience of slowing down as we grow older. But in all these things we should be able to discover “perfect joy”. For it is here that we learn to recognize the face of Christ, who became like us in all things, and to rejoice in the knowledge that we are being conformed to him who, out of love of us, did not refuse the sufferings of the cross.
It’s hard to be dour, discontented and dissatisfied while sitting on the beach (or up in the mountains, if you prefer)! Even if life’s circumstances won’t allow for you to travel, you can go to this place of comfort anytime in your mind’s eye, and allow the Lord to fill your heart to the brim with happiness. He has so much in store for you and asks no more of you than that you rest, relax and trust in Him.
Peace, all good, and much love,
mattie
