We don’t do ‘summer’… it’s Trinity Time

By 
Fr Robert Christo

Vicar for Communications

Every July/August holidays, we sadly slip into a strange habit—we call it summer. But in the Caribbean, there’s no summer in the real sense. No shifting leaves, no four seasons. What we do have is our own beat: the Trinity Term Holidays—a rhythm born from the school year, rooted in our colonial past, but rich with the potential for something holy, healing, and homegrown.

The name itself goes way back. Under the British school system, the third academic term (April to July) was called the Trinity Term, named after the Feast of the Holy Trinity.

While most people today say ‘July-August holidays’, reclaiming the deeper name—Trinity Holidays—is more than nostalgia. It’s a spiritual reset. It reminds us that this time is not just a pause from books, but a chance to grow in faith, family, freedom, and formation, spend some time building character with tantie in de country.

What we call a thing shapes how we use it. If we label it ‘summer’, we borrow a foreign fantasy—beaches, malls, brunch, and mindless drifting. But call it Trinity Time, and suddenly we awaken to its purpose: a sacred space to build identity, deepen character, and stir the soul.

So instead of burning daylight on endless screen time, here are ten local, soul-rich, sense-awakening ways to help youths rise this holiday.

Build a Family Identity Tree or record an oral history

Let the kids sit with granny or uncle, hear the old stories over hot coconut bake and melted ‘box cheese’ with Fernleaf  butter. Capture the scent of camphor balls/bay leaf in the linens. Let memory take root like good cassava. Build true (Caribbean) identity and belonging.

Visit the sick or shut-in

The smell of bay rum, the creak of a rocking Morris chair, the shaky voice of an aching soul—they awaken compassion. As one wise single parent told me recently, “I gave my children all that I never had (not things, not brands, not image) but what lasts—God (first), character, resilience, faith, and emotional spine for a world full of wolves, rejection, pain and those inevitable  heartbreaks (tabancas).”

Get active in church life

Let them help with altar serving, hospitality, church cleaning, or parish projects. Give them a taste of belonging, not just attending. Ministry nurtures identity, backbone, and belief.

Plant something… anything…

‘Chadon Beni’,  mango starch, or a barbadine tree. Let them feel and smell the ‘dut’. Feel the sweat running on their brow. Name the plant. Water it. Watch life unfold slowly—like unmerited grace.

Read a(n) (e-)Catholic book

Try a saint’s story (e.g., Blessed Carlos Acutis, a teen tech whiz nicknamed ‘God’s influencer’ will become the first millennial saint), an animated graphic Bible trivia or a spiritual adventure. Read it under a coconut tree by the beach. Add a glass of cold mauby (yes!). Let faith feel like bitter-sweetness on the tongue.

Host a no-device day weekly

Skip TikTok. Pull out Pictionary, Monopoly, or make an Oil Down and lime. Go to a river camp/cook-out. Bathe in de rain. Walk bare feet on the beach. Let them rediscover the joy of simplicity, touch, laughter, and eye contact.

Set up a family prayer space—a good ole ‘chapel’

Light a candle/lamp in the chapel. Create a dedicated space in the home. Display a family intention. Show them that prayer is  kneeling, too—it’s also home, heart, and hope.

Organise a giving drive

Sort old/unused clothes and toys. Let them choose what to give and where to give it. Giving things away sharpens values and releases greed.

Make a journal or vision board

Use (on-line) clippings, paint, and glue. Help them map out dreams for the next school term. Help them notice, not just what they want, but who they’re becoming.

Try a ‘Yes Day’

One day, let the youth choose (within reason): food, activity, shopping, movie, music. It’s not chaos—it’s formation. It teaches decision-making, joy, and voice.

Bishop Robert Barron says true freedom is choosing the good, the beautiful, and the true—not whatever you feel, not the impulsive ‘want it now otherwise’. The Trinity Holidays are a time to form that kind of freedom in our youth—not just taller, but wiser. Not just Disney but rooted.

So don’t call it ‘summer’. That belongs to somewhere else. Call it Trinity. This land bears God’s name: Trinidad.

Let the holiday reflect the Trinity’s rhythm: community, creativity, conscience, and communion.

Smell it, taste it, dance it, feel it. Live it. This is ours. Trinity Holidays: holy ground.

Photo by Raphaël Biscaldi on Unsplash