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January 19, 2005
Making Family Vacations Catholic
Taking a family vacation in our hectic world is a great way to spend time away from the hustle and bustle of life, but it’s difficult to keep a vacation from being a trip away from God as well. We are called to keep our focus on Christ at all times – even when away (I’ve heard the “rule” about long-distance trips and missing mass, but I don’t agree with it!).
When you have older children, it’s much easier to choose a “Catholic” destination for your trips. You can incorporate religious and historical sites into the trip and the kids still have fun. For instance, a great trip is to Washington, DC, where you can visit the National Cathedral as well as our national monuments. Or, if you have the money, Rome, Italy is the perfect trip to impress your faith upon teenage children. Everything about the city is distinctly “Catholic” and you’ll learn as much as the kids do. But of course, even with older children it’s fun to hit the beach or a theme park every now and then. With smaller kids, historical trips are often difficult to swallow (especially for the parents), so fun and excitement have to be incorporated.
Making Mass during Vacation
Even for a trip to the beach or a park, you can keep the focus on Christ. There are a number of ways to do this, but none include missing Mass. Even when on vacation, find time for Sunday Mass. You can find a local church along with Mass times and directions at Masstimes.org.
Because this is a vacation, I highly recommend daily Mass – this is the best way to keep the vacation Catholic. By going to daily Mass you impress upon children the importance of Mass and the Sacraments. In addition, it provides you with many opportunities to explain how we “rest” in Christ and are strengthened by the Eucharist. Oftentimes a Catholic church is right around the corner; a short trip and an hour at Mass each day make a vacation more special, not less. For many of us, a vacation is the only time of the year we can actually celebrate daily Mass, so take advantage of it.
Praying your Vacation Away
In addition to Mass, focus on prayer during your trip. This seems like boring advice, but you can spice it up a little. For example, prior to the trip choose a Saint for each day and teach your children about the Saint’s life as you start your day. Say a prayer to the Saint that you would all reflect a certain characteristic the Saint had during the day. For example, you could use St. Francis one day and pray that your day at the beach is peaceful as he was. If you can tie the Saint into your plans for the day, so much the better, but this isn’t always necessary. I do recommend you choose Saints your children aren’t very familiar with, since part of the point is to make it a learning experience. Throughout the day you can point out when something reminds you of that Saint – again, it keeps the focus where it should be.
In addition, don’t forget to pray before the trip for safety and fun; and thank God after the trip that these motives were met. Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean nightly prayers are skipped, so keep up your normal routine – this will actually be comforting to smaller children.
If possible, I would also incorporate the Rosary into your trip. For example, you could spend some quiet time each day in your hotel room (resting!) to pray the Rosary. This is very effective with smaller children who need a break during the day to nap or rest. Older children can pray along with their parents. Personally, I think this is a great way to focus on the “big stuff” in our lives, rather than the everyday events. So, you can say the Rosary that your children find a religious vocation or a holy spouse, for example (not that you shouldn’t be praying for this everyday, anyway).
A Spot Away from the Vacation
So far I’ve focused on simple things you can do to keep a focus on your faith in a normal way. But there’s one other suggestion I would make: take a religious break from your vacation. In virtually every spot in the US there are interesting Catholic Churches, monasteries, and other Catholic sites – there is no doubt one near where you are going. Do a little research beforehand (see CatholicLinks.org for example - go down to “spiritual places”) and find some unique Catholic spots to visit while on your trip. This may be the only chance you’ll ever have to see them! Just as one example, you could go to daily Mass at a different church each day, so that you are able to see several.
If your children are teenagers, perhaps schedule a retreat for one night at the start or end of your trip – it’s a great way to reflect on our spiritual lives and rejuvenate. If smaller, you can visit a monastery or convent just to give your children a better understanding of the vocational life. Spend some time before the Blessed Sacrament (especially this year, since it’s the “Year of the Eucharist”) and let your children do so as well. This is a more tangible and memorable way to incorporate your faith in your trip.
Get ready and Go
It’s that time where we’re all starting to plan our family vacations, just make sure you plan for God to be there as well. There is no better opportunity – especially for Fathers – to emphasize the importance and reality of our faith than while on vacation. At a minimum, you should find a way to pray at least as much as you do at home, but hopefully some of the other suggestions will work for you as well. Every trip benefits by incorporating Christ!
God bless,
Jay
PS – Can you think of other good ways to develop a “Catholic” vacation? Please add them to the comments – I’m always looking for good advice.
Posted by HolyFamily at January 19, 2005 02:09 PM
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Comments
I like those suggestions. We tend to prefer big city vacations and inevitably some of the best "tourist attractions" are churches. When we went to Montreal last summer we were in at least two churches every day. Even though we weren't going to daily Mass, there was a peace that stuck with me about simply being in the same area with the tabernacle and seeing the red candle lit. And you never know what you will see, even in the most crowded church. In Basilica Notre Dame a young couple was near my daughter and I. Suddenly the man's eyes filled with tears and he gestured to all the magnificence around him. He said he had never seen anything like it and was overcome at the idea of making something so beautiful for God. A privilege to get that glimpse of the Holy Spirit touching him.
Posted by: Julie D. at January 19, 2005 05:31 PM
We try to attend daily mass at least a couple of times when on vacations, and if a Marian shrine of some type is close by, we try to visit one on our vacations.
Posted by: John B. at January 20, 2005 11:34 PM
