SO, it’s back to boring reality after the holidays: same old school, work, household chores, money worries, distressing international news!

But is this the reality, or are these two or three weeks we spend together on holiday each year the real world.

Isn’t it precisely during those few weeks in each year that we can find our real selves and find each other? Isn’t it then that we have the chance to find out who we really are, as husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters? There are no daily routines to distract us from relating more closely to each other, from finding out more about each other, from getting irritated with each other as well as learning what are each other’s deepest needs and how we can respond to them.

As we get down again to the nitty-gritty of the other 50 weeks of the year, let’s remind ourselves what we discovered about each other during those few precious intense weeks together. ‘Jesus withdrew by boat to a lonely place, where they could be by themselves.’(Matt.14:13)

FR DOMINIC ROUND St Joseph’s, Upton