“Time To Pause and Rest”
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B
STORY:
Hello! “You have reached the office of Jesus of Nazareth and his apostles. The office is now closed so they can get some rest. But your call is very important to us. Please listen to the following menu options, leave a voice-mail message, and we will get back to you as soon as possible. To request a healing, press 1. To inquire about salvation, press 2. To apply for membership in the Kingdom of God, press 3. To hear a pre-recorded inspirational teaching, press 4. Once again, thank you for calling, Shalom.”
We could creatively infer from today’s Gospel that the apostles, at least, might have eagerly invested in phone-menu and voice-mail technology had it been available to them 2,000 years ago. As today’s Gospel illustrates, even though Jesus knew and advocated the need for rest, he and the apostles did not always get it. Neither always do we.
Our need for rest and renewal is genuine, not selfish. We all need to go off to a “deserted place” occasionally to “rest a while.” Whether this means taking some time alone each day to pray and rest in God, making Sunday truly a day of rest, or setting aside a few days a year to make a retreat, all of us need time to renew our strength so we can take up our own shepherding tasks. Many people tell me often, after a vacation, that they need another vacation to recuperate. If the mission overwhelms us, we will be unable to persevere.
The Priest’s purpose for going on retreat (aside of the fact that it is a Canonical obligation of every Priest) or to a conference or on vacation, is not because we do not love our parishioners – because we do to both of those,
but simply because we need to rest from the work, we do here so we can return rejuvenated, invigorated, and refreshed to start again, and bring new ideas to what we do and what we are about as people of God.
It is possible to get so caught up in our own parade that we lose sight of the direction it is heading. This can happen even when that parade is made up of one good deed after another. An overabundance of even good activity can impair the very purpose of what we are doing. When we ourselves are drained-or if we secretly feel cheated out of time for ourselves – it is difficult to give fully and generously to others.
For most of us, one of the least-thought-of commandments is the commandment to rest. The Sabbath (Sunday) observance given to us by God is centered on our liturgical worship here but goes beyond that as well. God knows how much we need to refill and renew ourselves.
We often find ourselves engulfed with obligations to other people, directly or indirectly. Some of these obligations are a fixed part of our lives, and we cannot change them. We must accept them. We can, however, ask for help with them and accept that help too: things such as
– meals and household chores,
-caring for an elderly parent or neighbor
-neighborhood projects,
-parish and spiritual endeavors
-volunteer efforts
Jesus gives us the model to follow. Sometimes, as in today’s Gospel, He changed plans and sacrificed his (and the apostles’) need for rest to serve the needs of others. It was a pastoral decision he made upon seeing how great the need of the people was who came to him. He felt pity, says Scripture.
But at the same time, Jesus did not abandon the idea of rest and renewal. On numerous other occasions, he made certain that he and the apostles had time alone. He never neglected prayer to his Father.
Each of us needs to implement physical and especially spiritual R and R into our lives. Like diet plans and exercise programs, no one size fits all. Spiritual reading can help very much, but there is no single program for everyone’s situation. We must, however, make it a priority in our lives. A dry well cannot quench anyone’s thirst, however much it may want to. I have recommended before to you a very good book for Spiritual reading titled: The Holy Longing, by Ronald Rolheiser. In this wonderful book the author leads the reader from restlessness to peace in search of the Holy in our everyday lives.
In our Eucharist today, we will receive as food the one who said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Let us ask him to show us what we may need to do to receive the rest He promised.
Let Him shepherd us, as only He knows how!
Jer 23:1-6
Eph 2:13-18
Jn 10:27