Dear Firebirds and Flyers,
As I write my Magnificat reflection for the month, I can’t help reflecting on what happened in May with the election of Pope Leo XIV and what’s in store for us all this June and beyond. I’m preparing to leave for our annual Marianist LIFE program, a religious leadership retreat that takes students from Marianist schools across the nation and brings them together for a tech-free week. This retreat experience prepares our students to become spiritual leaders for their school communities. Seeing them grow in confidence, leadership skills, and dedication to owning their faith while working in a community always inspires me and gets me thinking, “How am I showing that same kind of ownership of my faith to others?”
June is a pivotal time for us in school environments. We feel the rigors of the school schedule fall away as we embrace the freedom that summer affords us. Everything starts to unwind with the unrolling of our beach towels on the sun-warmed sand. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, we shift gears from a strict school schedule to complete summer freedom. The problem with such extremes, however, is that once we finish with one, we tend to dive headlong into its total opposite. So I’d like to take this opportunity to ponder with you all what we could do during the summer to keep some of our school-time discipline when it comes to practicing our faith . . . and at the same time, maintain the lightheartedness that summertime calls for. I’ve crafted a few suggestions for you to sustain your relationship with God during the summer months:
- Go to Mass! No matter where you go for vacation, what you have planned over the weekend, or when you have to show up for work, there’s always a time and place to go to Mass on Sunday (or Saturday Vigil). The Eucharist is our “source and summit” in our faith, and so the key to a good summer begins with keeping the Eucharist in our schedule.
To Level Up: Don’t just go to Mass yourself, but invite your friends or family members to go with you.
- Stay rooted in prayer. I heartily encourage you to use the Magnificats. Make a plan to pray either morning, evening, or night prayer as something to keep your faith practices strong over the summer. Always keep our Blessed Mother in mind, and remember that she’s interceding for you even during the summer months. To Level Up: Dedicate a time to practice a Lectio Divina with a passage from the Magnificat,OR find some time to go to Adoration.
- Confession is key. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is always available. Contact a Marianist priest if you want to go to someone familiar, or check your parish website for confession times. In the summer, we tend to make more mistakes, but nothing you will do this summer is unforgivable. The burden is on you to seek forgiveness from our Father of Mercy. To Level Up: As always, invite someone to go to Confession with you! Or try to go more than once this summer if you don’t already. If you do, keep up the good work, and spend some time considering what it really means to say, “I promise to avoid whatever leads me to sin.”
- Explore something new. Our faith is alive and active. Our practices become boring when we view them as stale or old. Explore a church you’ve never been to, a prayer practice you don’t have much experience with, a saint you’ve never heard of, or join a young adult youth group and meet others dedicated to the faith. There are many opportunities to explore your faith in a fun and engaging way this summer, and if you’re not sure what to do, ask for help! (Since doing something new and outside of your comfort zone is hard enough, there’s no level up).
No doubt, summer provides us an opportunity to have fun and to enjoy things that we love to do. I encourage you to incorporate your practices of the faith into your summer activities and breathe life into them. Don’t be afraid to be a role model of your faith during this summer. Most importantly, be patient with yourself. Give yourself room to fail so that you also have space to grow. The brothers will be excited to hear about what you all have been doing during our annual Faustino BBQ at Stella Maris this summer. Keep an eye out for when that will be.
As always, we have you and your intentions in our prayers, offering them to our Blessed Mother. If you have any special prayer intentions, please reach out so we can pray for them specifically. Have a great summer, be safe, and stay rooted in the love God has for you.
God Bless,
Bro Peter Sennert, SM
