SEASONS OF THE SPIRIT
Summer/Autumn
To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
The seasons teach us lessons. Autumn suggests that we must lighten ourselves in order to survive. Summer affirms the importance of roots. Summer affords more opportunities to be outdoors, to participate directly in the exuberant growth of plants, trees, fruits, vegetables and flowers. Without roots, and the cultivation of those roots, it would be all dryness, decay and death.
With the wonder of summer we experience a broader and deeper exultation of the spirit. That experience, however, is not confined merely to the world of nature. With the inner eye and the inner ear, the eye and the ear of faith, we know that all this growth is a gift of God. Our very lives are God’s gifts.We are, therefore, religious in our bone marrow, in our DNA, to the aquifer of our being. Our religious and spiritual growth, however, must be cultivated. Now is the time to be planning for autumn. We cannot be so light that we are blown over by a wisp of a breeze, a raging wind or a hurricane of controversy.
. . . The goals of our summer/autumn experience have to be a deeper appreciation of our faith, a more profound understanding of the Scriptures – the beatitudes, the parables, the Commandments – a stronger appreciation of the Blessed Mother and the saints, a more vibrant awareness of the wonder of grace and the reality of sin.
In this same grace we are called to cultivate an enriched awe before the mystery of God, a communion with Our Lord Jesus Christ in redemption and salvation, a sensitivity that reverberates in our soul to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Archbishop Henry J. MansellHartford, CTThe Catholic Transcript
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