Summer Abundance

By Father Kevin Cullen

The month of June offers a new rhythm to our daily life. When we look closely, we see some of the most amazing things. Liturgically, we move from the Easter Season into Ordinary Time. But Summertime is rarely ordinary time. We all try to do something special during the break from work or school. Maybe we spend more time on outside excursions and camping, bike rides, walks, and gardening, or evening porch sitting and yard parties. Like our geese, let’s look around our world from Marillac Center.

Our Retreat and Spirituality Center shifts our focus from programs for our inner lives and growth to providing our facilities and resources to outside communities and groups for their growth, renewal, and annual retreats. We also welcome people who enjoy time for private, silent retreats. 

Summer abundance invites us into a unique rhythm of reflection and prayer. With an earlier dawn each day, we marvel at the gentle light dispelling the previous night’s darkness. In the bright light of the day, we see and discover simple beauty in shades of green in the trees or wildflowers we may have never noticed before. With sunlight elongating the evening shadows into dusk, we examine the softer graces of the day, recalling kind words and compliments, as the day comes to its end. Our daily rhythm changes: we may sit longer with that morning cup of tea, or appreciate the refreshing bites of an ice cream cone.

Sports also draw us outside, like baseball and jogging, swimming, hiking, or even pickleball. Oh, and this Summer in the Kansas City area, we are especially aware of soccer. Sporting events are ways to encounter others, meet new friends, and learn about other places in our world.  Summer is a reflective time, as we live into these warmer days. We move from the inside to the outside. We observe the movements of life in the natural world. And we discover anew our place to sit, to gaze, to reflect, and to hope…for what is yet to come!

Consider joining us at Marilac Center for one of the following events:

Beloved Discipleship: Johannine Gospel
Monday, October 12 (4 p.m.) – Sunday, October 18 (4 p.m. – Mass)
This event is held in Ross Chapel
Sr. Mary McGlone, CSJ

The Beloved Discipleship Retreat will examine the Gospel of John as the way of entering into the call we each have to become the beloved disciples of Jesus in today’s world. The rhythm of prayer will include times for silence, personal prayer, and individual accompaniment if requested.