Monthly Message from Father Al

Change of Seasons

As we enter into the month of May, we experience a change of seasons in many different ways.  It signals the coming end of another academic year with graduations and other movements of transition.  As a congregation we are forced to say goodbye to those who are graduating and that can be a bitter-sweet action.  We embrace the change that retirements bring; wishing all those people who are embarking on new directions our best and promising to hold them close in our prayers.

Likewise the weather is changing as well.  We have warmer, sunshine filled days and balmy evenings to look forward to in the next several months.  We drink iced tea on the porch and smell the freshness of new mown grass and flowers.  For many the summer will bring more relaxed and informal schedules.  Summer jobs for students replace hours of homework, the pools will soon be opening, and the band concerts in the park will be here before we know it.  The bike trails are already becoming busy.

I think our spiritual lives also change seasons.  We have come through the intensity of Lent and the joyful celebration of Easter.  We enter into a long period of few calendar demands from a religious standpoint.  This does not mean that our spirituality takes a vacation.  When we take a long walk in the spring air without a coat or gloves required we are able to take in the beauty of God’s creation anew.  When we can be out in the dark without freezing we can sense our smallness in the star filled sky.  We can once again marvel in the cycles of nature, the trees, the flowers, the crops, and all the sounds that permeate the spring evenings.

I happen to love all the seasons and the differing opportunities they present to us to experience God in creation.  I do not think that I even have a favorite season.  Each is different and allows us the chance to experience change.  Each change of season also reminds us of the opportunity to be deliberate about promising ourselves (and God) to make some change in our faith journey that will bring us closer to God and better servants of our fellow human beings.

So welcome the new season and look for ways to use it to deepen your journey!

Faithfully,

Al