From the Desk of Fr. Trinidad Cuevas
Summer time
Ah summer is finally here full of sun, lots of heat, vacation time and plenty of free time to relax. Personally, this will be my first summer in New Mexico. They tell me to be prepared because it will be excruciatingly hot. I should drink lots of water and stay indoors with a nice air conditioner, all necessary tactics to survive the summer.
The irony is that the same tactics that apply for a successful safe summer, also applies to the spiritual life. The truth is that during the summer we Catholics naturally tend to relax our spiritual life by keeping our guard down in prayer. Also, our eyes tent to become more keen on certain attractions of the flesh, and sadly, we even tend to skip mass ones or twice especially if we are on vacation. The point is that we have a danger of becoming more vulnerable.
This is the moment the evil one, (known as the devil) is waiting for, to surprise us when we least expect it and make us fall. Over the years I have seen this happen time after time, marriages getting disrupted, kids getting into trouble, issues with money, sudden health surprises, you name it. I’m not saying that this does not happen at other times of the year. What I am saying is that when such events happen at other points of the year, say during lent or advent or Easter, it is easier to stay focus on prayer precisely because we are more immersed the liturgical time that surrounds us. In the summer we don’t celebrate many liturgical aspects of Christ’s life, which makes it all the more necessary to place into practice all the spiritual graces we have received during the year.
This summer I encourage everyone not to relax your spiritual life, in fact, we should double up on our prayers so that we can be ready, just in case the evil one attacks.
With God with us, who can be against us. We will have the best summer ever.
God bless you
Fr. Trinidad
Pax et bonum
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