| Dear Friend, Candidly, the start of summer has caught our family flat-footed. In our defense, last week we—along with our team of wonderful baristas and volunteers!—reopened Trinity House Café + Market after 11 weeks of temporary closure due to COVID-19 restrictions. You know that moment, after you’ve worked hard to prepare your home for dinner guests, when everyone smiles and sighs as they enjoy their first few bites of a delicious meal? Well, we’ve been blessed to have that experience many times since 7:59 a.m. last Friday. That’s the moment—one minute before our official opening—when a café regular knocked and came in to purchase the first cup of coffee at Trinity House since March. But in the midst of all this, our kids finished school last week In the third week of each month, we turn to focus on Level 3, the Household Economy of a Trinity House. As you know, this is the multi-faceted level of your home which includes your weekly Life Meeting with your spouse, family meetings, schedules, budgets, chores, and the myriad other activities which go into the running of a household. And now, once again, it’s time for us to renew family life with a summer schedule that will keep everyone happy and productive, albeit in a relaxed mode. But how to go about this? We’ve already had a “relaxed” three months at home! And unlike a normal summer, when we’d already have our camps and vacation on the schedule, we don’t even really know what the basics are or can be! “We have already had many disappointments,” Marcel LeJeune shares with Our Sunday Visitor in a recent column reflecting on this unique moment of the past three months of family life. He undoubtedly speak for many families at the outset of this summer, “and the unknowns that lie in our future are without number. It is enough to drive even the best of families crazy. So, what can we do to avoid family burnout?” Well, as we look to cobble together this new season’s schedule, we’re relieved to see the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the calendar this week. We are reminded of Jesus’ great love for us and the need to constantly recreate a family life that allows us to follow his example and put one another first. As we steady our eyes on his heart that burns with love, at least three guiding principles for the creation of this summer’s schedule come to mind: 1) Begin the summer with prayer. Not to overwhelm ourselves, but historians will be looking back at 2020 for years to come. As history unfolds—with recovery and healing, we pray, from the pandemic, racial discord, and unemployment—how will our families mark this summer? Consider praying together as a family in a special way this Friday, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Before we race into some well-meaning family schedule, let’s be sure we have first knelt before the Lord, asking for his guidance, grace, blessing and protection. 2) Let’s not beat ourselves up (too much) about unstructured time. Yes, we need to help our kids spend much less time on screens, and more time in productive activities. But we can’t forget that they also need downtime—those valuable swaths of time when they drift a bit and then choose to pick up a book, play outside, create a new game, or just daydream. 3) Use discoveries from Level 2 to plan out Level 3. In Level 2, Person & Relationships, part of what we do is discern the unique gifts of each family member. In Level 3, Household Economy, we put them to work. And summer is the perfect time to give each family member a project that helps them to develop in an area of personal promise while helping the whole family! So, for example, our young daughter who is interested in all things environmental will take over recycling and composting this summer. And we’ll help her plan and implement a better system than what we’ve had in place. With our bigger garden, we’re going to need more compost! With just a few good principles in place, now we’re all set to sketch the beta version of our family’s summer schedule. With prayer focused on growing our love right out of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with built-in downtime, and with intentional personal development in mind, we’ll meet this week’s big challenge. Hopefully, we’ll come out the other side with a summer schedule that honors Our Lord’s great love for us with our own attempt to better reflect it in this season! “Come to me,” we will hear in the Gospel reading for this Friday, “all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” May we hear our Savior’s words with new immediacy as we face whatever challenges—and receive whatever graces and consolations—this summer. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Amen! Heaven in Your Home Toolkit Out (at some point) today!: enjoy this extended interview with Soren and Ever on Stacey Sumereau’s Called & Caffeinated podcast. Soren’s Arlington Catholic Herald column this week is a kind of pre-Father’s Day examination of conscience. Dads, read at your own risk. Marcel Lejeune’s 7 summer ideas for families from Our Sunday Visitor. Check out Bishop Burbidge’s newly-released pastoral letter, Fundamental Lessons from the 2020 Coronavirus: A Reflection on Our Spiritual Growth, which includes this word of encouragement: “The domestic church is alive and thriving throughout this pandemic. Families do not merely exist through the challenges of the past several months. Through the grace and mercy of Our Lord, they have taken ownership of the domestic church, ensuring that each person grows and that the family grows together. What a beautiful witness of the Christian life!” “I’d much rather be in the great story that God is telling” than “making up the story,” shares Bishop Barron in this video on the “Story of Salvation,” released last week. Bishop Barron walks listeners through the 5 chapters of this story: creation, the fall, the formation of Israel, Jesus Christ, and the Church. Don’t Miss… Haven’t joined us yet? Consider signing up for our next livestream Heaven in Your Home Workshop: Wednesday, June 24th, 8-9:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) Curious to learn more about the workshop? Check out this recent article on Aleteia about the Heaven in Your Home Workshop. Learn more and register here, and then spread the word by forwarding this email to your friends. Testimonial “Trinity House Café is an exciting and encouraging model of the local Church going on the offense in an unassuming yet effective and attractive way. As a platform for evangelization literally located at the corner of Church and Market Streets, Trinity House embodies the call to be a Church not in ‘maintenance mode,’ but rather in a permanent state of mission.”—George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center Please Join Us In Prayer For forgiveness for the times when we have failed to love and respect one another (cf. USCCB Prayer to Overcome Racism) For all local, state and national leaders at this time, that they might lead with wisdom, and that our communities may experience healing, unity and peace. For all senior citizens, doctors, nurses, and essential workers, as they continue to face the Covid pandemic. For the unemployed, the underemployed, and all those facing difficult financial decisions in these days. For the daily ministry of Trinity House Cafe, and the upcoming and recent Heaven in Your Home Workshop participants, that their families would experience the grace and peace of our Lord as they build their Trinity Houses. In Christ,  Soren & Ever Johnson Founders & Directors Trinity House Community Making Home a Little Taste of Heaven |
Life Lessons from a Father of Nine
May 7, 2024
Listen Now Sometimes you have to hit pause and thank God for one who has run the race well—and we’d like to do that as we
