By Brea Cannon, Liturgical Rhythm of Life
We are now entering into summer and ordinary time in our liturgical calendar. For the Church, that brings priest ordinations, Vacation Bible Schools and parish picnics. It is also a season to spend some time doing some summer reading about the lives of the holy men and women that were steadfast in faith over the course of Salvation History.
July is filled with memorials of inspiring and brave Saints:
7/1: St. Junipero Serra
7/3: St. Thomas the Apostle
7/6: St. Maria Goretti (pray for the innocence of children)
7/11: St. Benedict
7/12 Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin
7/14: St. Kateri Tekakwitha
7/22: St. Mary Magdalene
7/23: St. Bridget of Sweden
7/25: St. James the Apostle (take a pilgrimage to a church or holy site)
7/26: Sts. Joachim and Anne (pray for grandparents)
7/29: Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus
7/31: St. Ignatius of Loyola
With school out and kids at home, family time seems natural. Even if you don’t have kids at home, July is a time for family reunions, vacations and outdoor parties. There are three specific days on the liturgical calendar in July that remind us how important family connections are and how time spent together is never wasted.
The liturgical feast day for Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin is July 12. They were married on this day in 1858. The Martins were the first married couple canonized at the same time. Not only did their marriage give beauty and goodness to the world, it produced holy and saintly daughters, one of whom St. Thérèse of Lisieux, is a saint and Doctor of the Church. At their beatification in 2008, it was said, “Louis and Zélie understood that they could sanctify themselves not despite marriage but through, in and by marriage… (Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins).”
On this feast day, pray for your marriage and spouse, the marriage of your children and for the fruits that come from holy sacramental marriages. Plan a date night with your spouse or offer to help a young family by babysitting or making dinner for them to enjoy.
On July 26, the church celebrates another married couple – the grandparents of Jesus – Sts. Joachim and Anne, Mary’s parents. The relationship between grandchildren and grandparents is unique and special. We don’t know a whole lot about these two saints but we do know they loved their daughter and taught her scripture and the law. It was their daughter’s ‘yes’, her faithfulness, that cooperated with God’s plan for salvation. This day and the Sunday closest to it, the church dedicates to grandparents. It recognizes the impact grandparents have on the world. Through prayer, love and service, grandparents play a profound role in young people’s lives.
Take some time on these days in prayer remembering your grandparents, both living and deceased; recall the good times you had with them and the life lessons they may have taught. If they are living, visit or call them. Grandparents help preserve our faith and shower the world with the gifts of knowledge and wisdom.
Another set of saints we remember in July are the biblical siblings Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Their feast day is on July 29. Sibling relationships are a special bond that can lead us closer to our eternal home. As young children, sibling relationships are where we first learn patience, trust, love and understanding of others. In our accounts of these siblings in the Gospels of Luke and John, we read how much affection Jesus gives these three siblings. We read how Jesus navigates their family dynamics of love and at times frustration with one another. He can do the same for us. On this day celebrate your siblings! Pray for them and for their faith journey, reach out to them with a letter or phone call and if they’re close, invite them over for dinner or out for ice cream.
You could also sit in silence at the feet of Jesus in prayer like Mary, be hospitable to dinner guests like Martha and like Lazarus, rise up from something holding you back from Jesus in your life.
The summer months can fly by too quickly. The liturgical calendar in July reminds us to slow down and take some special time to be with and pray for family. “Over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:14)”