While the trees have not yet donned their fall splendor, the other signs are here. We have had Ohio sales tax free week. There are pencils, markers and backpacks abounding in every retail outlet from groceries to drug stores to warehouse outlets. There are lunchboxes and power bars and multi-packs of all manner of energy and brain foods to help propel their purchasers through the day. It is definitely back-to-school time.
Even for those of us that have long graduated from the classroom and lecture hall, there is still an adrenaline rush of enthusiasm for beginning something new that is built into our biology come late August and early September. After the dog days of summer, we look forward to learning, planning and envisioning our future. We have new energy to take on tasks that are a little foreign to us, even if they are difficult and demanding. We welcome the direction of teacher guides that can help us assimilate new knowledge and skills.
Last week, I had a conversation with one of my colleagues about how youth find their lane in life, one that can bring them to a productive and satisfying career. It is hard to work toward something we do not know, something that is not in our realm of experience. Youth need models that can inspire them to pursue a particular goal and demonstrate how that goal can be lived out. Youth find those models in school and in internships.
So, what is our own back-to-school rhythm calling us to do and what implications does it have for our spiritual life? How can we put new energy into our quest for holiness and an active life of discipleship? What items do we want to put into our spiritual backpack?
Just as school prepares us through learning and doing to take on the responsibilities of life as an adult, the spiritual life is designed to help us become saints. We do this, by God’s grace, and by learning and doing. We need food to make this possible. Our power bar is the Holy Eucharist and a lived relationship with Jesus. Our brain food is prayer. We need teacher guides. That is why in the spiritual realm the lives of the saints are so important for us. Learning about them is an important part of the curriculum. They open our minds and our hearts to new possibilities for living out the Christian life.
So, in this late summer back-to school season, let us respond to the desire to begin anew with a sturdy backpack filled with our commitment to honor Jesus in the Holy Eucharist by spending time with Him and worthily receiving Him at Mass as often as possible. Let us take a fresh highlighter to our reading of Scripture to find, like St. Francis, Jesus that we want to emulate. Let us study, with notebook in hand, the life of at least one saint that can inspire us to follow Jesus in ways that we did not think possible. This month, we might consider reading the Confessions of St. Augustine, or a biography of his mother, Monica. Let us go to the lab of life and try out what we have learned and perhaps, tutor another student. Let us be attentive to better learning the language of prayer. Let us seek out an internship of Christian service. And let us wear the uniform of justice, love and mercy as we embark on this new adventure.
