Summer has officially begun, and this is the time of year when many people time some time off for a vacation. Growing up my family took a vacation every summer. We had a pop-up tent camper, so we would pack up and camp somewhere. We went up to North Pole, NY to see Santa, there was a campground near the shore we would go to regularly, and one up in the Poconos. The trip to North Pole, NY stands out for me because the family in the site next to ours was from Quebec, and one night we built a bonfire between our two sites and both families sang songs and told stories. They taught us songs in French, and we taught them English songs.
You might be surprised to learn that there is a theology of vacation and recreation. In the Genesis account of creation, after doing all His work of creation, God rested on the seventh day, the Sabbath. So the Sabbath day of rest existed before the Fall and Original Sin. Made in the image and likeness of God, we are suppose to follow God’s example; He works, and He rests. The Sabbath is a time of resting in God, a time to be re-created. Yes, there is the Sunday obligation of keeping holy the Sabbath by going to Mass, but the whole Sabbath is suppose to be a day of joy and rest. Too often, however, we jam pack Sundays with a lot of activities.
Many of our activities often have a focus on advancing our careers or our futures. Think about it; why do we often have our kids in so many travel teams? Do we secretly hope that they will hit it big and make the pros? Sports are great, they are fun, teach the valuable lesson of teamwork, and even sacrifice (e.g., the “sacrifice fly or bunt” in baseball), but we have to be on guard against making them too serious. Do they still lead to joy and rest; or do they leave us exhausted? Proverbs 23:4 says, “Do not wear yourself out to gain wealth, cease to be worried about it….”
Again looking at the Bible, we see that God regularly punctuates time with moments of joy and relaxation. We see it in how the Israelites were told to celebrate the various feasts, and the jubilee years. These times of re-creation, joy, fun, and relaxation were focused on recalling how much God had blessed them
This is still the foundation for the Catholic theology of leisure, recreation and vacation. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church it says, “Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvellously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit—indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born—all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. And so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives” (CCC #901). Let me highlight that one of the works the laity does to consecrate the world to God, in addition to their prayers, apostolic works, and jobs, is the “relaxation of mind and body.” When our leisure time is done in the Holy Spirit, it becomes a spiritual sacrifice to help make the whole world holier.
I ran across four tips for making the most out of your vacation (from taylormarshall.com, whose podcast, episode #37 inspired this column):
Define a goal for your vacation. Ask, “On this vacation I want to do or become….” It could be something like, spend some quality time with each member of your family, or read a book.
Make 2 subgoals for each day of the vacation, which will help you achieve your overall goal. For example, I am going to go on a hike with my nephew Liam to hear about how his first year of college was.
Don’t over-schedule your vacation. Allow for a lot of down time. My best friend, Joe, was my favorite person to vacation with because we kept each other from over-scheduling. On a trip to Williamsburg we seemed to alternate a day of activity (like going to Jamestown or Yorktown) and a day of just hanging out by the pool.
Give everyone a printed copy of expected events. This is not a detailed scheduled, but maybe when you plan to go out for a special family dinner, or group photos.
Whatever do and wherever you go for vacation, have a wonderful time, come back safe and rested, and be sure to take God with you.
Oh, and don’t forget about our Parish Picnic on July 1 from 2:30 PM until about 8 PM to celebrate our 10th anniversary as a parish.