We tend to be an over anxious society which is always on the go and is always in need of having something else to do. It is a miracle if we allow ourself the opportunity to find the rest that we are in need of. My mind is taken to the example of the White Rabbit found in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” When we first encounter this character we are told that he speaks from his anxiety: “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” We are then described of his actions: “the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on.”
So many of us can emphasize with this Rabbit who goes about in a rush because so many of us find it difficult to slow down and find rest. In our Gospel we are told that Jesus looked to His apostles and said: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” In the words of Saint Augustine: “Our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you O Lord.”
Therefore we must find time to rest, but in doing so we must find time to rest with the Lord. Rest gives us a time of enrichment, it allows us to love God, and even assists us in becoming pleasant to those around us. No matter how busy a person may be we are in need of rest. Sacred Scripture even gives us this example in the book of Genesis: “On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.”
This leads us to two ways in which we can find this rest: through the silence of prayer and through the observance of Sunday.
We must be willing to enter into the silence of prayer for through it we allow ourself to rest with the Lord. It is easy for us to stay busy and to fill our mind with noise, but this noise does nothing more then buffer out the Lord’s voice. In seminary we would make a monthly Day of Recollection which would simply be a time of silence and prayer. When is the last time that you have made time for such a feat in your life? Even if it be just for that brief moment before the Eucharist. The church as building has become reflective of this for it has become a place of noise. Before and after Mass as we have allowed ourself to lose sight of the value of silence and prayer. It is in the midst of silence that we pray and that we allow ourself to rest with the Lord.
Next we need to also place value on Sunday and the assistance of Mass. As the precept of the Church states: “You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation.” Notice that this does not say you are to attend Mass when it is convenient. So often to go on vacation is not to attend Mass. So often sports and other activities are placed before one’s assistance at Mass. So often there is too much homework to be done or sleep that needs to be caught up on that Mass is not made a priority. How can we expect to rest with the Lord if what we do tears us away from our relationship with Him? Some would be shocked to hear that to miss Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day is grievous matter and thus should be confessed in the Sacrament of Confession.
