On the Seventh Day...

People in the city seem to have a stronger urge to work than those people who live in the countryside.  Many people in the cities love to work.  Some people even take pride in being called workaholics.

Many of us live with the viewpoint that a person’s worth is defined and measured by the way he or she works.  It means, the more work, the more worth; the less work, the less worth.  Sometimes we feel guilty if we take a break while other people we know are working.  We want to be well occupied always.  We want to work not only for the sake of working, but also because when we work, we get a greater chance of earning much and live a happly and comfortable life.  And because we always want to work, we become uncomfortable with silence.  There must be music, or something we can read.  There must be something to work on.  If there is nothing to work on, or music to listen to or books to read, we become uneasy, tense and troubled; because we no longer know what to do with silence.  To rest is not a sign of weakness.  Rest is not only limited only to the old and sick people.

Sometimes we become uncomfortable with silence.  We become perturbed by solitude.  We start to feel guilty when we want to rest.

There is a mother who boasts that since she became a mother she has not taken a vacation because, she says, she doesn’t need a vacation.  Then a priest asked the children, Is it true that your mother does not need a vacation?  “Maybe, the children replied:  “but mother does not realize that sometimes we need a vacation from her”.

Sometimes we are afraid to rest because we are afraid to realize that even if we are far away the world will still go on.  Sometimes we are afraid to resign, to get away, to take a break, to take a leave, because we are afraid that when we return, things have become better without us.

On the seventh day, God rested.  Even God the mighty rested.  Jesus the Son of God, the savior of the world, invites us.  “Come to me all you who are tired and I will give you rest.”  There was so much to do.  People were coming to Him.  People were rushing to Him to hear God’s word.  Yet, the most practical way, the most pastoral and apostolic way to handle such situations was to rest, to keep still in the presence of the Lord.

Let us ask Jesus for the grace to slow down, to be comfortable with rest, to be comfortable with solitude.  Because in solitude, we are confronted with that small voice inside us which tells us that we are loved by a gracious God.

-- Fr. Joshua Santos