16th Sunday - homily
When I was growing up, my family and I would go down to the beach every August. We were able to use a house of a friend of my Dad’s in Bethany Beach for two weeks. It was the highlight of every summer! When school finished in June, we couldn’t wait to get to the beach. During the days, we went to the beach and enjoyed time in the ocean or went to the pool. At night, we played board games – lots of board games! – or went to the boardwalk or something fun. It was such a great time! It was good, quiet, family time. Of course, there were a few disagreements here and there, maybe some arguments; I didn’t have anything to do with them…ok, so I did. Overall, though, I look back on those vacations with such fond memories because they were some of our best moments as a family.
In today’s Gospel, our Lord invites the disciples to get away and rest: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while”. For us, this can be an invitation to make a retreat which is something that we should all do. But, it can also apply to vacations. Pope Benedict, who we should all be praying for now as he recovers from surgery for his broken wrist, gave us some very good vacation advice recently: “We must set aside time in life for God, to open our life to God with a thought, a meditation, a small prayer, and not to forget Sunday is the day of the Lord”. I would like to offer a few suggestions on how we can make time for God on our vacations..how to make Christ involved in our vacations.
First, make a quiet, family vacation. I know it’s hard, but it is possible. It is very fruitful to spend time as a family and try to limit the use of cell phones, iPods, internet, TV, etc. It is so good to just have fun together, talk, and pray together as a family. We really can have an experience of God through our family; kids especially experience God the Father through their fathers and mothers. Second, go to Mass on Sunday on vacation as a family. Some of you are here today on vacation, so you get this point. We can’t take a vacation from God; we can’t take a vacation from Sunday Mass. Being on vacation is not an excuse to miss Sunday Mass. What a strong statement it makes to children when their parents plan ahead to make sure that they will be able to get to Mass, and that they all go, no matter where they are. It makes the statement that the Sunday obligation is most important and non-negotiable.
Also, if you have the chance, hit a daily Mass. What an excellent experience for anyone, but especially on vacation. Most people who have attended Mass during the week enjoy it more than Sunday Mass – it’s shorter, there are no collections, and there’s less singing! Seriously, it is more intimate and less distracting. It is a powerful experience with the Eucharist which is even more impactful on vacation, especially for kids. Also, if you go to a different city or country and go to Mass, then you experience the universality of the Church – the Mass is the same wherever you go. Again, this is a powerful experience for all of us, especially young people. What a great statement it makes to kids about the importance of the Eucharist!
Another suggestion is to pray together. Pray at the start of the trip for a safe trip and pray at different times during the trip. Praying the rosary is such a great family prayer! If you can’t pray a whole rosary, just pray a few decades together. It is highly recommended for families to pray the rosary together – the family that prays together, stays together. Also, you can read Scripture together, talk about the saints, or talk about our faith. It is so important to make time for God on vacations as a family and as individuals.
We all seek rest and peace when we go away on vacation. We need to make Christ a part of our vacations for us to find that peace. The second reading tells us that Christ is our peace. Only in Christ do we find peace and rest on vacation.
Finally, I will be going on vacation this week…I’m getting excited with all this talk about vacation and will heed my own advice. I will be going to the beach with a family who are dear friends. The highlight will be what we do every day in the house for about 15 minutes: Mass. If you’ve ever had the experience of vacationing with a priest and participating in a Mass that he celebrates in the beach house or hotel room or lodge, then you know it is the best! It is the best part of the vacation because it brings the Eucharist into your vacation. Jesus will be in our beach house! It will be the best moment of rest and peace for us this week. May all of us include Christ on our vacations. May we all find rest in Him who is our peace.
posted by Fr Greg @ 10:53 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
The kids and I were chuckling about the two "major" things we left behind on our trip to the beach- the dog and the laptop. We missed the dog and felt badly knowing that she missed us, but w/o the laptop we were really out it. It was a good realization. Brought the Ipods though. C'mon now, 5 kids in the car for a long drive- that's a healthy measure of sanity.
Our favorite vacation spot is Cacapon State Park about 10 miles south of Berkeley Springs WV. We rent a cabin for a week, as do our close friends with children about the same age as our daughter. Although we collectively have seven children ranging in age from three to ten, our week there is (mostly) peaceful. The adults take turns cooking dinner and keeping track of the children (via walkie-talkie…no cell phone service there). We spend some time together as a group, and some doing our own thing.
Last year we did not have a peaceful start to our vacation…we had JUST finished unpacking, set the camp chairs on the porch, and opened up our beers. At the VERY moment we sighed “ah…we’re on vacation” there landed in my husband’s lap a black snack coiled around a bird. My husband about sprang out of his skin, flinging the bird-squishing snake out of his lap. Tragically, he spilled his beer.
We thus have learned to scrutinize the porch rafters for any sign of lap-landing wildlife before settling into our camp chairs.
This year, our seventh at the park, we learned the following:
If the cabin is not yet ready when one arrives, one should not drive a stuffed-to-the-gills minivan up to the mountain overlook. Going up isn’t so bad, but driving down is heck on the brakes.
If one doesn’t want to know that one has eaten squirrel, one should not ask one’s friend Rich what he put in his Brunswick stew.
One should pay careful attention to trail markers, else one may have much more of a hike than one had intended.
Actually, an over-long hike isn’t so bad. I enjoyed having the time to myself, hearing nothing but rustling leaves, water trickling through streams, and my own footsteps. Quiet time is always good.
Can't believe I'm admitting this, but it's funny (I think)...
We took a quick impromptu trip to the beach for a few days. On the way back, the kids were wild and loud. My I-pod died and nothing drowned them out. My son was in front seat trying to squish his sister directly behind him with his chair. She, in turn, was trying to strangle him with the seatbelt. They were making me crazy!
Does anyone remember seeing those commercial "sprinklers" that water the crops on route 404? If you need to "cool" things down in your car, try opening the windows while driving by one. It quieted things down in my car for a while- plus the looks on their faces was PRICELESS!
Yeah, vacations are great!
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