Summer at the Broom Tree Retreat Center
By Shannan Dose
As the sun makes more of an appearance and the snow begins to melt, we tend to get antsy for the coming summer months. We begin to make plans for what might fill the summertime: vacations, various summer camps, etc. However, we cannot neglect fostering and growing our spiritual lives as well.
There are many different enrichment-like activities that are thrown at us to keep kids reading, practicing math and various other outlets to keep their brains learning throughout the summer. The same is also true for the various faith opportunities we are given to encourage our children to continue to learn about and grow in their faith. Below are just a few opportunities that are widely available to the youth in our diocese; however, the list is not exhaustive. I encourage you to look into what your parish and pastorate may be offering this summer.
The first opportunity I’d like to highlight is Lumen Christi. This is the diocesan missionary program in which college-aged students spend the summer serving as missionaries for the diocese. The missionaries spend a full week at the parish leading a daytime program for elementary-aged students and an evening program for middle school and high school students. The beauty of what Lumen Christi offers is the opportunity for near-peer ministry where the youth are learning from other youth in the diocese. It also gives the missionaries the chance to spend a summer focused on growing their own relationship with Jesus while teaching the young people of the diocese about having a relationship with Jesus and the Church he gave to us.
The second opportunity is geared more toward our middle school and high school students. The diocese has for many years offered Discipleship Camp (D-Camp), which is a four-day summer camp at Broom Tree Youth and Family Camp led by the summer missionaries and other college-aged camp counselors. D-Camp has all the elements of your stereotypical sleepaway summer camp, but it also has the faith at its very core. It is an opportunity for young people to have fun in a wholesome environment where they are also challenged by their peers to come to know their faith.
While these opportunities offered to our young people are wonderful ways to step away from their norm, there is so much more that can be and needs to be done in the home to continue to foster their relationship with Christ. In 1986, Pope St. John Paul II gave a wonderful homily on the beauty of the family as the domestic Church. This idea as a whole can be an entirely different discussion, but I do want to draw upon a quote from this homily: “The family is the ‘first and vital cell of society.’ In its own way it is a living image and historical representation of the mystery of the Church. The future of the world and of the Church, therefore, passes through the family.”
It is the duty of family life to pass on the tradition of the Church. It is through family life that children will come to know Christ and his Church and will be given the tools to pass it along to their future families.
This idea is not meant to intimidate, but rather, encourage. Do not let faith fall to the wayside this summer. Instead, what if it became the foundation of everything this summer?
The beauty of summer in my eyes is the lack of schedule and structure. By the time fall rolls around, I know many of us are ready for some schedules and structures, but summer gives us the freedom to explore and be adventurous. What if this summer was a faith adventure of sorts?
Let’s establish new prayer habits within our families. Let’s go outside and find God in the vastness of the nature he has created for us. A few examples of this could be deciding to pray a decade of the rosary as a family each evening. It could follow the same reward system as the library offers for reading each day during the summer. If the family successfully prays a decade of the rosary for a week, month, etc., then the family can share ice cream together in celebration.
Or, there are many sacred spaces in nature such as Broom Tree, Abbey of the Hills or Trinity Heights that offer families a place to escape the norm and be in nature with the Lord. There are also dozens of resources on Formed.org that families can dive into. One of my favorites is “Catholic All Year” with Kendra Tierney. This series follows a mom who lives liturgically with her family as they do various activities that match the liturgical year.
While we continue to foster our children’s brains for the upcoming school year, let us not forget to also foster their relationship with Christ. In the same homily, Pope St. John Paul II reminded us, “I appeal to you [parents]: do not deprive your children of their rightful human and spiritual heritage. Teach them about God, and tell them about Jesus, about his love and his Gospel. Teach them to love God and respect his commandments in the sure knowledge that they are his children above all. Teach them to pray.” May we spend this summer focused on praying as a family and continually seeking God.
