Summer Time Spirituality
Since many of TrueManhood’s readers are in college, I think it’s important to take some time to talk about a spiritual life during the summer months. Many of you have a strong faith community and spiritual support system while on campus and many of you are heading home (or at least away from your group) for the summer; how do you keep a strong spiritual life going? Well, it’s easy to get back into old, bad habits when you go back into an old environment. Some of those old, bad habits might be as simple as forgetting to pray everyday. They might be more serious (with lasting effects on the rest of your life) like excessive drinking and promiscuous sexual activity. That said, here are a few suggestions of how to keep your spiritual life going – and growing!
- Pray daily. Take time (whichever part of the day is best for you) to make this a priority. As with any relationship, it requires that you speak and listen to the other person. God, in this regard, is no different. Talk to Him.
- Make Sunday Mass a priority, and get to daily Mass as much as possible. The grace received from the Eucharist will help you fight temptations toward old, bad habits.
- Stay in touch with your friends from campus. (Your good friends – NOT your nasty friends.) A support/accountability/prayer connection helps a person significantly. We are relational beings – created to be with one another. Your friends want to help you, so talk to them. It’ll probably end up helping them too.
- Do spiritual reading. Find one or more (good/orthodox) Catholic spiritual books and read. This might also include taking notes, journaling about what you read and/or about how it applies to your life or talking about it with someone else.
- Do your best to keep Christ first and foremost. I listed this last, but it’s not the least priority, but yet the highest priority. I write about Christ last so that you remember that it’s all about Him. Keep Him #1.
Man up!
