July is usually a quiet month in parish ministry. It is a great time to clean files, take a vacation, or just use up some comp time soaking up the sun (slathered in the appropriate sunscreen of course.) This catechetically slow month offers us a wonderful opportunity for some summer R&R (relaxation and regrouping).

It's a time to find a good book, sit back and relax. Or if you're like me, you might enjoy closing your eyes and listening to a book on tape. I got in the habit of listening to recorded books during my hour-long ride home from work. Now I sometimes use them while I clean house, water the garden or take my evening walk.

I recently finished one of the best books on spirituality I've ever read, The Holy Longing: The Search for A Christian Spirituality by Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.I. The book was published by Doubleday in 1999 and recorded as an audio book by St. Anthony Messenger Press.

For years friends have suggested I read this book, but it wasn't until the audio came out that I followed their advice. I'm sorry I waited so long, but then again maybe this was just the right time for me. I plan on taking the book on retreat with me so that I can experience it again. I'm hoping that by both hearing and reading the words, they will become a part of me. This book is really good.

Rolheiser tells us that there are four pillars to authentic Christian Spirituality: prayer and moral living; social justice; participation in Church community; and a mellowness of heart (a sense of joy and celebration). He talks about the vast difference between a theist and a Christian, and gives a profound explanation of the Incarnation and Paschal Mystery. Rolheiser weaves together story, personal examples and anthology with theology and a wide range of literary and cultural references. He takes the best from the spiritual masters of the past and present.

The book also offers practical help as it explains how spirituality affects every aspect of the human experience. Parents of adult children will particularly enjoy Rolheiser's discussion of love and forgiveness when offspring take roads which they might not approve of. (To hear an audio sample of Longing: The Search for A Christian Spirituality, click on one of the following media players: RealMedia | Windows Media).

If you haven't read or listened to this book, do yourself a favor and do so. Better still, use it as a book for discussion with other catechetical leaders. Our professional DRE organization used to have an annual July day. We'd decide on a common book to read and then choose a day in the middle of the summer to get together for some discussion and socializing. Whether you read/listen to this book by yourself or with others, I'm sure you will find new insights that will help carry you through another year.

Click here to see what other audio books are available from St. Anthony Messenger Press.

As a mother of five (all grown now), I remember well the mixed feelings about summer. I enjoyed the slower pace, the few extra minutes of sleep in the mornings, the absence of homework to check, and few, if any, evening activities to coordinate. However, I also remember the July cries of, "There's nothing to do." "I'm bored." And, "Can you drive me to (fill in the blank)?"

I understand that today with cable television, the computer and hand-held electronic games, parents have a whole different set of summertime concerns. My son tells me that left on his own, my 7-year-old grandson could probably spend all day playing his Game Boy. I've admired my son's and daughter-in-law's patience and creative spirit as they try to limit the time their three young boys spend in front of one screen or another.

It has long been my contention that too many children (and adults for that matter) have lost the gift of silence. We walk into a room and automatically click on the TV. We get into our cars and turn on the radio or CD player. Children walk around with Game Boys in hand or sit for hours with their eyes glued to a computer screen.

In his book Taming the Media Monster: Family Guide to Television, Internet and All the Rest, Dan Andriacco cites a Kaiser Family Foundation study that discovered children eight years and older spend nearly seven hours a day on media. (Andriacco reminds us that many child development experts recommend no more than two hours of screen time daily.) The book goes on to offer guidelines for decreasing the quantity and increasing the quality of media exposure. It examines both the positive and negative aspects of various media forms and offers specific tactics for dealing with each. In addition, Taming the Media Monster not only helps family's determine inappropriate material but also how to use the media to promote gospel values.

In one chapter Andriacco talks about these values in regard to today's rating systems, offering a Web site where you can go for further clarification. He concludes the chapter with some excellent reflection questions for the whole family and an interesting exercise that looks at today's media heroes and heroines. (Click here to read this section of the book.)

I've come to realize it's a lot more difficult raising kids today—especially on those long summer days when a parent hears those familiar words, "I'm bored." It must be a temptation to just turn on the TV or let them have an hour or two more time on the computer. Good parenting has never been easy. Thank heavens for authors like Andriacco who give parents the help they need to make the right decisions.

Many of us are better at giving and doing than we are at receiving and being. While the summer months may offer us a break from the hectic pace of the school year, we can get so caught up in clearing up those stacks that accumulated during the past several months and gearing up for the upcoming program year that we may miss the opportunity summer offers us for self-care.

It's easy to fall into the "I'm doing God's work" trap. See if you recognize yourself in the following description: You are a person of faith who has responded to the call to share this faith with others. You see your work as much more than a job: it's a ministry. What is asked of you is pretty demanding, but you rise to the challenge—often sacrificing time with family or religious community, limiting other involvements, giving and doing like all good catechetical leaders. Sound familiar?

But what about your own prayer life? What about your own involvement in community service beyond your work? What about your own faith formation? Do you schedule a regular retreat? Congrats to those who manage to balance the demands of work and the need for self-care! Far too many of us spend our time helping other people learn to pray but not managing to fit regular prayer into our busy schedules. Far too many of us organize service opportunities and retreats for others but don't manage to make the time for these meaningful activities for ourselves. Far too many of us are so busy trying to help light the fire of faith in others that we do little to tend our own fires of faith—without which our lives and ministry would have little meaning. And we say, "I'm doing God's work. It's more important than me. My needs will have to wait."

The video resource On Fire With Faith: Forming Adult Disciples is inspired by Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States. The video and bishops' plan both challenge all of us to consider how we are meeting our own needs for ongoing formation in faith. Gather with a small group of fellow catechetical leaders for reflection and sharing using the story segment (a modern-day Road to Emmaus story) and music video segment (retells the Emmaus story with Gospel images and contemporary scenes that highlight the qualities of mature adult faith and discipleship.) A prayer experience using the music video is provided in the leader's guide. (To see a video sample of On Fire With Faith: Forming Adult Disciples, click on one of the following media players: RealMedia | Windows Media).

Whatever you do, take care of yourself this summer. Putting yourself and your own formation in faith on your list of priorities is not selfish - it's necessary. You and your ministry will benefit!

Beginning around the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ in June, most dioceses in the U. S. started implementing changes in the way the Mass is celebrated. These changes, outlined in the new General Instruction of the Roman Missal (newly translated into English), offer an excellent "catechetical moment" for your entire parish. The July 2003 issue of Catholic Update, entitled "Changes in the Mass: The New General Instruction," presents a clear explanation of the new practices. Written by Father Lawrence Mick, a priest and liturgist from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, this Update offers your parishioners a clear explanation of these changes, ranging from the importance of singing in the Mass, to the importance of the observation of times of silence during the Mass, to new instruction about our posture and practices as we take part in the Communion procession. While many of these "changes" are practices that have been evolving since the first implementation of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in 1964, this Catholic Update can go a long way toward helping your average parishioner understand just what all this change is about.

How do you regroup during the summer months? Our editors will screen and post your ideas on our online bulletin board at AmericanCatholic.org. You can check the board from time to time to see others' ideas. Submit your ideas by clicking here.