Saturday, February 06, 2021

“Rest a While” by Melanie Rigney


 “Rest a While” by Melanie Rigney

Memorial of Saint Paul Miki, priest and martyr, and his companions, martyrs 

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have; God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind. (Hebrews 13:16)

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. (Psalm 23:1) 

The Apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving, and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. (Mark 6:30-34)

Piety

Lord, no place is deserted, for You are always with me. 

Study

Rest. We all need it, and most of us crave it from time to time. But sometimes, we don’t recognize our own spiritual, emotional, or physical exhaustion. Jesus saw it in the apostles and shepherded them away. But when they got to what was supposed to be a deserted place, well, it wasn’t. People figured out where the group was headed and got there first.

And what is Jesus’s response? He doesn’t calmly and with compassion say something like, “Hey, would you please give us a minute? We can’t help you until we re-charge ourselves.” He doesn’t scream at them to go away and leave the group in peace. He doesn’t even sigh and say, “Oh well.” 

No, Jesus’s heart is moved with pity. He sees their need for a shepherd greater than His and the apostles’ need for rest, so He gives the crowd what it needs. He teaches.

The ranks of our saints are full of people who just wanted to get away from it all and live as hermits, praying and worshiping. But a funny thing happened: people observed Anthony of Egypt, Paul of Latros, Stephen of Obazine, Francis of Paola, and others—and wanted to be like them, live like them, be around them. Each was Spirit-filled enough to see that while their desire for solitude was based in faith, their vocation was to lead others: as teachers, abbots, in one case even as a bishop. 

Rest. We all need it, and most of us crave it from time to time. But sometimes, God reminds us that it can be all the sweeter if we feed those who need a shepherd first.

Action

Be a shepherd before you sleep.


Image credit: klimkin from Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/photos/flower-life-crack-desert-drought-887443/

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