Now that the school term is over and we are about to start the summer vacations, one might think that the time to educate is over and now it's time to rest. But it is just the opposite, summer is a very important time in the educational work. Or to put it another way, education has no vacations.
Educating, as we know, goes far beyond learning certain knowledge. It is to enable human beings to develop their full potential. And the mission of educating children and young people is fundamentally an exercise that corresponds to parents. That is why families should also experience summer as a time of growth and maturation of their children. And just the opposite, to think that summer is a time to forget about everything, to let children do whatever they want, because we have already had enough hardness in this course, would be a tremendous mistake.
So what should we do? Well, the first thing to keep in mind is that we must help our young people to fight against the main temptation of summer, which is to get carried away by laziness, by proposing activities that are as dynamic and creative as possible. Because resting is not about doing nothing, but about changing activities. Summer is not for lying on the couch all day and thus generate a negative habit of laziness and idleness, but to enjoy many activities that throughout the course we do not have time to do. Activities that can be tremendously enriching. And thus generate a habit of good.
Of course, it all starts with having a certain order of life, a timetable, concrete proposals. To direct our own activity. And very concretely it happens not to be lying in bed until the body endures. It is true that it is summer and we must rest, but a proactive attitude in which we take advantage of the day from the morning is the best way to live the summer to the fullest. There is so much to do!
Why not visit historical places, get to know corners of our country? Why not enjoy nature, a climb up a mountain? Why not learn about wildlife in the places closest to our environment? Why not read a good book? Why not take a bike ride to nearby places? Anything but the easy option of playing video games, lying in bed, killing time. And furthermore, why not cultivate friendships and relationships with the family? Why not help and accompany other people who are lonely or sick? Why not think of others and live a summer of giving and solidarity? Why not use the summer so that the soul also has time to pray and meet God?
I can't help but think that the ideal model for a young man this summer is that of, precisely, another young woman: Maria.
Having just received the news that her elderly cousin was pregnant and therefore in need of help, Mary did not think twice. The Gospel tells us that she hurried up the mountain and stayed with her for three months - a whole summer. In haste, quickly, overcoming her laziness, Mary went up to Ain-Karim, the village of her cousin Elizabeth. She forgot herself and decided to give herself totally to those who needed her. And she did it joyfully, singing, intoning the Magnificat, spreading the happiness she carried inside, in her very core. Without complaints of any kind, giving herself to others, living united to the Lord.
A summer lived in this way will be a time of growth and maturation. Let us not miss the opportunity to live it this way ourselves and to teach it this way to our children.
