5 August 2022
Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The warm, and in some places very warm, days of early August give the appearance of a never-ending summer. A drive through the mid-west taken by the observer indicates that the summer is marching towards fall. The sweet corn is being harvested, the days are getting shorter, and zucchini is in such abundance that it is left secretly on the doorsteps of neighbors. Although the calander gives January 1 as the beginning of the new year, most of us consider the beginning of September when things start fresh. We were all hoping covid would be relegated to the history books, but it seems to hang on like flies at a picnic. Whatever the future holds, these last warm days of August may be a time to reflect on our priorities for the coming year. Ignatius of Loyola placed great importance on the examination of one’s life and so resting in the hammock or sitting on the deck chair may be a good time to look back on the year and consider what worked, what didn’t and why.