Saturday, 4th Week in Ordinary Time
“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”
I read this article that I consider as a good commentary on today’ gospel: “Many of us do critically important work and find ourselves exhausted.” “Yet we don’t rest. We may even believe that we cannot or should not rest.” “We push ourselves in a way that we would never push others.” “Our life may be productive, we may check off everything from our daily ‘to do’ list, but deep down we recognize something is wrong, that we lack a sense of deep meaning and fulfillment.”
Jesus’ invitation to find a quiet place and rest a while is one of those timeless statements so often found in the Scriptures. It is an invitation he extends in every age to every one of us. It is an invitation we cannot afford to ignore or turn down, precisely because we all need times of rest and refreshment. Real rest is to be found in Jesus himself – and in him alone.
Our Lord’s invitation to rest is an indispensable call to all of us to find some much needed silence and solitude. We are called to enter into God’s presence and peace. Any place where we can tune out the world’s noise and turn to the Lord within us can be a place of rest for us. There we can relax our bodies and ease our minds; we can sit or stand still and listen to the Lord; we can discover deep within us new resources of strength and energy.
Unless we take time off to rest our activity will be without direction, our work will become drudgery, and our life will lose its meaning. We need a place and time to lay our worries before the Lord and let his Spirit heal us. We need a place and time to sort out our experiences and see things with greater clarity.
Let us end with a prayer: Lord Jesus, You invite us to come away by ourselves to a deserted place and rest a while. Make us realize that unless we take time off to rest our activity will be without direction, our work will become drudgery and our life will lose its meaning. We need a place and time to lay our worries before You and let Your Spirit heal us. We need a place and time to sort out our experiences and see things with greater clarity. May we hear Your voice constantly telling us: “Come to me… I will give you rest.” Amen.
Parokya ni Osong 