Sundays begin with Fr Mike ‘s and Bishop Barron’s homilies. (Sunday Readings) This week Fr Mike focuses on rest and gives some good insight into what rest can look like. As he started the homily I had this Aha! moment that sent me thinking for a few moments. Which means I probably missed an important part of his homily yet, I love how this happened.
Have you ever pondered why the Israelites spent so many years in the desert after being freed from slavery in Egypt? Me too! Glad to know I’m not the only one.
Fr Mike talks about how we are made for Love, Labor and Leisure. We are to labor for six days and rest for one. That’s a good ratio. The Israelites no longer knew how to rest. They’d labored for years and years with no rest. Each one needed to learn how to rest again. The years in the desert were a grace filled opportunity to be re-created, re-formed, re-stored.
In so many ways we need that too, re-creation, re-formation, re-storation. We live in a culture right now that is all production all the time, go-go-go! We are, in various social media outlets, seeing a backlash to the overwrought, overwork, be productive all the time so you Earn your rest, unless of course I absolutely NEED you to work then you either haven’t earned that rest or my NEEDS far outweigh your need to rest kind of culture. Rest isn’t earned, it is necessary. Rest is necessary so that we can be reformed, restored, recreated becoming productive the rest of the week. Even during the week of work we need moments of rest or downtime so that we can maintain the necessary productivity, the necessary labor.
Prayer is key to rest. As is doing things that reinvigorate us and bring us peace of mind. For some that is hiking or walking or gardening, for others it’s hanging out in the hammock, for others it’s hosting people for dinner, for still others it’s _________ <——- insert whatever here.
For me today I’m going to head out to the hammock after breakfast and read for a while. I am in need of quilting so maybe? What does rest look like to you?
Happy Sunday friends,
Teri