The Spirituality of Summer

“Then followed that beautiful season ... summer ... filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape lay as

if new created in all the freshness of childhood.”

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees ... I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again

with the summer.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

Sister Regina Ann Rokosny, who has quite the green thumb, prepares plants for last month’s Spring on the Farm event at Monocacy Farm Project. With the start of summer just days away, the farm is swinging into full gear with the start of its Pick-Your-Own program.

The Spirituality of Summer

The thermometer is rising, the sun is shining, and we can go outside again. The arrival of Summer 2021 – just a week away on the Summer Solstice of June 20 – is particularly refreshing given our collective year-long stay at home. It’s good for the soul, and it’s downright spiritual.

“Our God is always with us,” says Sister Patricia Ann Mahoney. “Humans and all of creation are interconnected.”

Our Sisters are experiencing the return to nature in many small ways of their own – afternoon and evening walks, prayerful moments outdoors, and tending to their own plants and gardens. The scale need not be grand. Whether nurturing a single tomato plant on a balcony at Mt. Assisi Place, stepping out of the office for a brief walk around the block, or getting their hands dirty at Monocacy Farm Project, our Sisters are soaking up the spirituality of summer.

Our pray-filled prescription for you this week – get outside, even for just a few minutes in whatever small way you can. Take a deep breath, let your bare toes touch the grass, listen to the chirping birds ... and just be.

Nature’s Gem

An Original Poem by Sister Karen Buco

What is a flower but a dressed-up stem,

a God-given beauty – it is a gem.

Clothed with pretty petals so silky and fair, spreading sweet fragrance and scenting the air.

Snuggly wrapped in warm, leafy coats of green, robed more regally than a king or queen.

A seed buried in the womb of mother earth, dying bravely gives the flower its birth.

Tiny sprouts pop their heads out of the ground, as Mother Nature works without making a sound.

The warm kiss of the sun and rain also,

awaken the flower, coaxing it to grow.

What is a flower but a dressed-up stem,

a God-given beauty – it is a gem.

Photo by Sister Roselyn Kuzma

SFCR Yard Sale

St. Francis Center for Renewal's big indoor yard sale is less than a week away. Get event details and find out how you can bring a piece of SFCR into your home next weekend.