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But such programs are not just for students anymore. Sometimes inspired by natural disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis and other times by a simple desire to do something altruistic and meaningful, adult professionals increasingly are looking for something other than fun and sun when they plan their precious few days of vacation each year, according to a recent Associated Press report.
Call it a "vocation vacation," if you will.
Organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Doctors Without Borders, Catholic Charities' Operation Helping Hand and local church groups have long provided such opportunities, but lately even travel agencies are getting into the act of what is now being dubbed "voluntourism."
To use one's leisure time for extended outreach to the needy is more than just a laudable expression of Christian stewardship. For those who participate in this way, it's more often than not described as a life-changing experience.
It can also be habit-forming, as many adult professionals who choose to return year after year to the same mission work can readily testify.
The Catholic view on vacation and leisure is fully consistent with these selfless acts of service. On his first vacation after his election, Pope Benedict XVI said that vacation is an opportunity to spend "more time dedicated to prayer, reading and meditation on the deep meaning of life."
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Echoing this idea, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the papal household, told Vatican Radio last year that vacation "should be that time of year when, through contemplating nature and reading the word of God, people can look inside themselves and get in touch with the most important motivations of their lives."
He suggested that "perhaps the most beautiful meaning of vacation is that of getting back into an intimate, profound contact with the root of our being, with God."
If in serving the poor and needy, those whom Jesus describes as the "least of our brothers [and sisters]," we in fact serve Christ himself, how much closer and more intimate with God can we get than that?
A "volunteer vacation" doesn't need to be an extended bus trip or expensive plane ride to a remote or exotic location. Jesus assured us that we will always have the poor among us, and they are likely to be very close to home. Local charitable agencies will always welcome volunteers even on a short-term basis, which makes it possible for us to do some good in our own back yard perhaps without ever leaving town.
Such work can be depressing at times when the volunteer realizes he or she can accomplish very little in the shadow of so much need. But, as in the case of most social-justice initiatives, the exhortation "Think globally, act locally" reassures us that even the little we can do has value.
As we make plans for our summer vacations, let us consider the possibility of spending some time in service to others. It may well become perhaps the most memorable vacation experience of all.
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