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Saint Paul
Friday, March 29, 2024

Summer Twentieth

Kate Soucheray
Summer picnic
iStock/ViewApart

Summer is finally here and we must remember to enjoy it! Last summer, our then-4-year-old granddaughter and her cousins planned a day of fun at our house, which they named “Summer Twentieth.” When we told the girls my husband and I would not be home on the day of their planned event, they assured us they didn’t need us to be present for them to enjoy the day. And so began the tradition of Summer Twentieth. The first annual celebration, complete with swimming, painting, workbooks of all kinds, lots of playing and dress-up, and a favorite lunch, produced dozens of great stories to last until the next Summer Twentieth celebration.

These little girl cousins, along with their millennial moms, planned a complete day of summer fun on the first day of the season, which has become legendary through the tales and giggles that have followed throughout the past year. Of course, this year will host the Second Annual Summer Twentieth, complete with similar activities, as well as those events the girls have created within the past year to help celebrate the coming of the new season.

As Catholic Christians, we celebrate the joy of the Easter season, which concludes with Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit in tongues of fire upon the Apostles as they huddled in fear. Like those ancient followers of Jesus, we have the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit more fully into our lives, through a renewed commitment to live our faith more passionately each day. As we ponder how we might do this, let us think about a few potential activities that might serve to draw us closer to one another through our own summer events and celebrations.

ACTION CHALLENGEThink about something fun you can do this weekend to celebrate the summer season. Commit your entire family to the activity and enjoy one another’s company.

You may dedicate a day of your summer to serving others. As a family, you could gather with friends and drive to a nearby park, gloves and bags in hand, ready to clean up debris and trash you find scattered there. As you offer your service in this way, you will provide an environment that encourages the responsibility of all park users to put their waste in the nearest trash receptacles, as well.

You may reach out to Feed My Starving Children and ask if they have a shift you could join on a day that is convenient for you. As you do so, you will find the meals you help prepare will be sent to parts of the world you may have never heard of, to people you will never meet, as you help relieve their hunger. In doing so, you will convey to someone on another continent your concern and care for their welfare. For as Matthew’s Gospel states, “Whatsoever you do to care for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me.” At the conclusion of your shift, you may decide to go for dinner and talk about your experience and what it meant to you and your family to serve others in need.

You may decide to go for a hike at a state park and enjoy the lovely, spacious environment and vistas it provides. As you do so, give honor and glory to God for the beauty in which you partake and commit yourself to bringing that same peace and tranquil experience back to your everyday life. In doing so, you will infuse your life with the encouragement you feel while breathing in the freshness of the outdoors and God’s creation.

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Finally, you may decide to have a picnic and a day of fun with family and friends and create your own annual version of Summer Twentieth, immersing your life in the joy and happiness of the summer season. Again, Matthew’s Gospel states: “Unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child — this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a member of Guardian Angels in Oakdale. She holds a master’s degree in theology from T`he St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

 


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