We live in a time when electronic resources make our lives ever easier to manage the complexity caused by electronic resources! The cell phone comes to mind. Prudence and wisdom ought to guide the way technology can be of service to us.
The cell phone can archive our past, entertain our present, and anticipate our future. It is an efficient instrument to record and encounter the moments of our lives. It helps us get directions, send messages, keep photos, and, of course, make phone calls. It has many other features I never use.
In this region, the school year is coming to a close, and graduations fill the calendar. People move on. Some friendships will endure, and some will become distant memories in our personal histories.
One of our grandsons is moving into middle school; another is transitioning to university. The transitions of formal education give us pause to consider the changes in our lives, the leaving behind, and the openness to the new and unknown. These are passages for parents and guardians also. We remember when our young people were just starting elementary school, college, or a career. There is the joy of accomplishment and perhaps a tinge of sadness for what we remember as simpler times gone by.
My high school class is planning a fifty-fifth reunion for the fall. My college class is celebrating its fiftieth year after graduation. A lifetime has passed since the original experiences, yet we are grounded in those early times, still cherishing the memories of friendship and community.
We look forward to seeing people we haven’t seen for so many years, and when we meet them, it will be as if we have known them all along.
We recently celebrated the feasts of Pentecost and the Visitation. Both are Mysteries of the Rosary, and both feasts draw us into the mystery of God’s Holy Spirit, active in all we believe and do. The Spirit enlightens our memories, enlivens our relationships, accompanies us in our passages, and consoles our hearts. The Spirit encourages us to be open to the grace found in every moment, teaching and recalling for us the words of Jesus (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit calls us to understand each other at a level deeper than words.
Let our family prayer embrace the words of St. Paul, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” (Romans 8:14)