My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Now that we are midway through our summertime, a time for leisure and vacation, perhaps reflection on the meaning of leisure time may help us to truly use this down time that most of us have during the summer months. In the past, summers were a time when people had to stop. The joy of air conditioning was certainly not an available experience until two generations ago. Prior to this, summer was a time when the temperature forced us to move more slowly, to stop and think, sometimes more clearly about life and its true meaning.

Hopefully, summertime still gives us the opportunity for reflection and spiritual growth. It is a time when we usually read more, or give more time to prayer or make a pilgrimage to a sacred place. In a certain sense, we can recharge our batteries, both physical and spiritual, at a time when time itself seems more available to us.

I can recall a beautiful teaching of Blessed John Paul II during the Year of Faith when speaking to prisoners. He said, “Time belongs to God.” Time is not our own. We are allotted a certain period of time in this world. Then we move into truly what is called God’s time – eternity. We try not to waste time; rather we try to use it effectively to further our own salvation and knowledge of God and the ability to put it into practice for the love of others. Summertime can truly be our recognition that time belongs to God.

This past week, I have had the opportunity to accompany 300 young people from the Diocese on their pilgrimage to World Youth Day. I enjoyed reporting back to you on the experiences through my new Twitter account, @BpDiMarzio, and through Facebook, facebook.com/bishopdimarzio.

I have been on many World Youth Day pilgrimages, beginning in the Year 2000, and found each one to be unique and truly satisfying. These pilgrimages with our youth are moving experiences of faith.

In Brazil, we saw perhaps two million young people, all Catholics, and all trying to deepen their faith. This is a time when we are encouraged about the future of our Church. The fruits of World Youth Day have always been a greater adherence to faith, a better understanding of our faith and even vocations to the priesthood and religious life where new leadership comes for the life of the Church. It is summertime that allows young people the opportunity, away from their school duties, to take time to be together with others and to be closer to God.

As I put out into the deep with these 300 young people from Brooklyn and Queens, please pray for us that our experience will bear spiritual rewards and that our understanding of the needs of the poor will be furthered by our visitation to Rio de Janeiro, where the contradiction of poverty and wealth stand side-by-side. It is my prayer that the young people will learn from this experience and deepen their love for humanity and for God.