Rest for our souls
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Lectionary 100
Often, we think that we want to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. We want someone to love us, and someone to love. We desire children and grandchildren. We want a good job. We want to make a difference in the world. We want to avoid hell. We want the pandemic to end. We want people to treat us justly and kindly. We want to be respected and appreciated. We want beef jerky, a cold Shiner, a nice car, and a riding lawn mower. We want all these things for those we love.
But, is that what we want? Is it, really?
However many of these things we might possess, they are never enough. If we are healthy, we wish we were more attractive. If we have a job, we wish for a promotion or for a better job. If the pandemic ends, we will complain about the crowds everywhere we go. And, is there ever enough beef jerky?
I think that what we really want is exactly what Jesus offers us today.
We want rest for our souls.
Both the English and the Spanish translations of today’s gospel are a little lacking. In the original languages, Jesus does not simply promise rest. He offers rest for our souls.
If we stay up too late, don’t take care of ourselves physically, and work too many hours, our bodies become weary. If we continue to press on, we suffer injuries and illnesses. Eventually, we collapse from exhaustion.
Our mind and will get tired, too. We get worn out from juggling the demands of our life, our family, and our work, and from constantly making decisions. We keep our minds busy from the moment we wake up and check our phone until we fall asleep in front of the television, or our phone slips from our fingers as we fall asleep. Our list is longer in the evening than it was when we started the day, and we sleep poorly as our mind continues to stay busy in our dreams.
The Catechism teaches that we are a soul and a body together. The mind and will belong to the soul, but are intimately connected to the body. When my body is tired, my mind becomes tired too. When I am hungry, I get grumpy, too. When my soul is weary, I have poor judgment, and I am more easily angered, offended, and tempted.
Jesus offers us rest for our soul.
Rest for the soul means relief from our deepest and greatest burdens. It means true healing for wounds we have covered up. It means rest from heartache.
Rest for the soul means enjoying the peace of God, in which we are neither troubled nor afraid.
Rest for the soul means learning from a meek and humble teacher, whose lessons are gentle, and whose demands are light.
How do we get this rest?
“Come unto me,” Jesus says. “Take my yoke upon you.”
Jesus comes to us, and waits for us to come to him. He was often found in the temple, participating in worship, and in the wilderness, appreciating God’s creation. He spent time in prayer, and was steeped in scripture.
Go where Jesus went. Go to the place of worship. Go into the wilderness, or simply stop to look up from your phone to appreciate creation. Go to Jesus in prayer, and look for him in the scriptures.
Seek stillness, and quiet, to make space for the still, small voice of God to speak.
The Desert Fathers lived as hermits in the wilderness, and searched for Jesus by living a life of solitude, manual labor, contemplation, and silence. Most of us cannot live as they did, but we can learn from how they took Jesus’ yoke.
They guarded their hearts, paying attention to their thoughts, and refusing to allow themselves to entertain unhealthy imaginations.
They meditated upon the scriptures, and prayed often, and simply.
They practiced charity and hospitality.
We can do the same.
If we will quiet ourselves, guard our thoughts, pray often and simply, and practice charity and hospitality, we will make a space where Jesus will enter, and give us rest for our souls.
