Thomas Griffin 6/22/22 (For Busted Halo)
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Excerpt: “As a teacher, I find my summer months are often ruled by constantly changing schedules and very little routine. Even when I was not working as a teacher, the summer was simply different. For me, having more time with family on the weekends and more energy for life makes for a great opportunity to have fun and increase my faith. And while I will be the first to admit that having the summer off is something to be cherished, I’ve still found it to be a challenge to remain rooted in the faith when my and my family’s time is less structured.
The first area that I found to be particularly helpful in keeping God at the center of my summer months was incorporating at least one type of prayer each day. I would decide between picking up a spiritual book, reading the Bible, or praying the Rosary, and stick with it. Choosing just one allows for spiritual growth by being simple in prayer. No one wants their summer or their time off to be strictly laden with check-ins, but a good spiritual rule of thumb is that when we schedule God in our day, he is never outdone in generosity.
I found that keeping a similar morning routine year-round, even when there is time off on the weekend or the summer in general, can go a long way. I wake up at a similar time each morning, make some coffee and head outside for some spiritual reading or prayer before the family wakes up. Setting goals for what I wanted to read or what I needed to pray for has allowed for a beautiful balance between being too strict with prayer and not praying at all in the summer.
I also have attempted to set aside at least one afternoon or evening a week when I could visit a local church for Eucharistic Adoration or to just sit quietly. Doing some research on when your local parishes have Mass or Adoration, or simply have the church building open, can truly be a huge help. This makes portions of the summer feel like a mini-retreat. These small habits prevent me from having the entire summer pass me by without growing closer to God.
Second, I have found…
Read the full article at Busted Halo
Thomas Griffin teaches in the religion department at a Catholic high school on Long Island where he lives with his wife and son.
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