Rest in God

Homily, Ordinary Sunday 5B

In January of my first year of college seminary, we went on a mission trip to Bay St. Louis in Mississippi. It was a welcome break from the Minnesota winter back at St. Thomas, and I even got to try an alligator po boy while I was there, which is basically just a sub sandwich made with alligator sausage. But the mission trip was also hard work. It was the third year after Hurricane Katrina, and we spent our days painting houses, climbing through the rafters with electrical wire, trying our hands at basic carpentry, and getting our feet soaked in the rain and mud. By Thursday evening of that week, I was completely exhausted. There are few times during my life when I have felt more tired and worn out. Someone told me later on that they saw me come in to the dining area for supper that evening, with all life drained from my face. And as I just sat and ate my food, I avoided talking to anyone, to conserve energy. Later that evening, we had exposition and adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted more than I did that evening, to find rest, new life, and new strength in Jesus Christ. 

In our first reading today, Job is talking about the drudgery of life, the weariness and restlessness that he’s experienced. Throughout the day, he longs for rest from his work, and at night he can’t seem to get to sleep. Tired and anxious at the same time. Is there any description that could be more accurate for what so many have experienced during this past year? Between COVID and everything that’s happened as a result or in response to that, the riots that gripped and burned many cities and businesses, the political campaigns and elections and what we’ve already seen from a new administration, there’s been a lot of weariness and a lot of anxiety. So, how do we deal with these experiences? Do we bring them to God and find rest in Him, or do we look to so many other diversions? 

It’s easy to just turn on the TV or streaming service, to watch a movie or binge watch episodes of a series, or to keep scrolling through social media to distract ourselves momentarily from the drudgeries of life, but do these things really refresh us? When the show’s over and we turn off the screen, have we become more capable of dealing with our daily tasks and problems, or have we just put them off till later? One of the most famous quotes and prayers of St. Augustine is when he says to God, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are ever restless until they rest in You.” For the first three decades of his life, St. Augustine had tried to find happiness, rest, in all sorts of things, in all sorts of sins. In lust and fornication, in stealing things he didn’t even need, in his career and education, in trying to make a name for himself. But everything left him weary and restless, till he finally surrendered his life to God. 

What if, instead of turning to God last of all, with the time we have leftover, instead of turning to so many other things, distractions, and indulgences to try and medicate ourselves when we’re tired and anxious, what if instead we would turn to God first? The Gospel tells us that Jesus, “Rising very early before dawn, he left 
and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.” The whole reason that Jesus was able to take upon Himself so much of the illness and weariness that afflicted whole towns that were gathered at the door to see Him, the whole reason He could take upon Himself their battles with unclean spirits and the anxieties of life is because Jesus made prayer and intimacy with His heavenly Father the priority of His life and ministry. “Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.”  

And if your prayer life has not deepened during this past year, I’m willing to bet that you are more tired and more anxious than you really should be, more than what’s really healthy. But God wants to be our Refuge and our Strength. He doesn’t want you to feel like you’re carrying these things on your own. “Come to Me all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. And you will find rest for your souls.” Making prayer and our relationship with God the priority in our lives will obviously look different for each person and depend a lot on the real circumstances of your life, but I hope that as Lent approaches we’ll be asking those questions: what works for me? What doesn’t work? What might be some things that I even need to give up or spend less time on so that I can spend more time with God?  

St. Francis de Sales is often quoted as saying, “Half an hour of meditation [and quiet prayer] each day is essential for every Christian, except when you’re busy. When you’re busy, you really need a full hour each day.” Most of us have a lot of room to grow in this area, so don’t get discouraged, and don’t try too much too quickly. If you start out by managing to get just five or ten minutes of real quality prayer in each day, that’s gonna serve as a better foundation than to spend two hours in prayer one day and then to get frustrated at yourself for the next four days not really getting to prayer. Once you’ve established a more consistent habit of prayer, you can always start to lengthen that time or add in another time of prayer at a different part of the day. God wants to help us carry our crosses, but we don’t receive His strength and consolation very well when we don’t spend much time with Him. Come, all who are weary and find life burdensome. Find rest for your souls in Christ.