Summer Soul

As the heat of summer becomes more grilling so are the billboards of summer tanned skin and shapely bodies more glaring. The summer heat becomes a common excuse to bare one’s abs, edges and curves for all to admire. But for one to showcase a stunning build or bosom, the duration of summer vacation will not be sufficient to deliver instantaneous results.

Shaving off fat, toning muscles, whitening one’s skin and other health and beauty treatments take months of sacrifice before one can surprise others with his bodily and facial achievements. Casually eating canned tuna or signing up for some weight loss program will not give instant results.

The strong materialistic and hedonistic trends only help to catalyze people’s minds into working for their physical betterment and forgetting to take good care of their souls. This is especially true during the summer ‘break’ when the vice-volatile ingredients of free time, fast-food, Internet and sleeping can do great harm to the soul’s growth.

Pope Francis reminds us of these dangers threatening our soul’s fruitfulness and perfection:

“The presence of constantly new gadgets, the excitement of travel and an endless array of consumer goods at times leave no room for God’s voice to be heard. We are overwhelmed by words, by superficial pleasures and by an increasing din, filled not by joy but rather by the discontent of those whose lives have lost meaning. How can we fail to realize the need to stop this rat race and to recover the personal space needed to carry on a heartfelt dialogue with God? (Gaudete et exultate, no. 29)”

If the needs of the soul are not addressed man easily falls into a state of ‘meaninglessness’. Pope Francis, however, doesn’t lose hope because he believes that even certain extreme states of desperation may guide man towards living his life in more realistic terms:

“Sooner or later, we have to face our true selves and let the Lord enter. This may not happen unless ‘we see ourselves staring into the abyss of a frightful temptation, or have the dizzying sensation of standing on the precipice of utter despair, or find ourselves completely alone and abandoned.’ (Ibid.)”

Thus, he invites everyone not to be afraid to nourish their souls, saying that ‘we should be afraid to of holiness.’ which is the only thing worth striving for. He says:

“Holiness does not make you less human, since it is an encounter between your weakness and the power of God’s grace. For in the words of León Bloy, when all is said and done, “the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint. (Ibid. no. 34)”

With the ample time and leisure that summer will bring, surely, it will not be too difficult to ask oneself: Do I realize that I’m made for holiness? If so, will I strive to foster –with God’s grace– a constant desire to become holy even in the most ordinary things? Am I ready to have constant recourse to means that will help me in this ideal of holiness (e.g. prayer, Sacraments, works of mercy, etc.)And since my holiness is meant for a mission, will I strive to give testimony of it to help others to become holy as well?