Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time A
I
took my eight-year-old nephew camping.
(I somehow
thought it would be a good way to recuperate
after
all the hoopla of Foundation Day for St. André’s…)
Nathan
loves the outdoors,
and
I knew he’d enjoy heading out
on a “big adventure” with his Uncle Joe.
on a “big adventure” with his Uncle Joe.
We
reached our lean-to with just a couple of blisters,
but
countless bug bites.
After
a campfire and a couple of card games,
we
were more than ready for bed:
Nathan—with
loaded backpack—
had
hiked about three miles that afternoon on his short legs;
I
had already clocked about eleven miles the day before,
between
the “pilgrim walk” down from Chasm Falls
and
the Eucharistic procession through the village.
We
were both pretty tired!
Yet
while Nathan was out
almost
as soon as he crawled into his sleeping bag,
I
just laid there half-awake most of the night.
For
one thing, I kept getting kicked;
I
could have been lying on the other side of the pond
and
that kid would have still found a way
to
squirm right up near me.
But
I was also very conscious of my responsibility
to
take care of my nephew and get him back home safely.
Nathan
was able to sleep because he knew,
even
if wild critters or thunderstorm should approach,
there
was somebody he could trust looking out for him.
What’s
true in childhood remains true throughout life:
we
can only really and truly rest
when
we believe that we’ll be taken care of.
Fr.
Justin was quite amused the other day
when
we went into a local shop
and
there was sign sitting next to the register:
“In
God We Trust” is the official motto of this country:
is
shows up on all our currency,
and
it taken from our national anthem
(found
in the fourth verse—one we never sing).
But
we Americans remain rather restless, don’t we?
Even
with the high rate of unemployment that plagues the land,
we’re
a nation of workaholics.
We
don’t seem to know how to rest.
Whether
it’s the weekend, a holiday, or vacation
(assuming
that our jobs allow for any or all of these),
we
often work just as hard as at our paid occupation,
but
on other things:
yard
work, housework, sports, and the like.
When
we take time off to travel,
we frequently
return home more tired than when we left.
We
don’t rest well.
Despite
our national motto,
could
it be because we lack for trust?
Could
it be that, deep down, we believe
that
everything depends on us and our own efforts?
That
our confidence lies
more
in mortal, human flesh and what it can achieve
than
it does in the Spirit of God?
Come to me, Jesus says,
all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Now,
that’s not to say God’s looking for us to be lazy—far
from it!
But
our heavenly Father wants his children,
whether
at work or at play,
to
experience the joy and peace which can only come
from
truly believing in his all-encompassing care.
The
recently canonized Pope St. John XXIII embodied this well.
After
a hard day, his final prayer would always be,
“It’s
your Church, Lord. I’m going to
bed.”
That’s
faith!
And
it’s the recipe for a good night’s sleep.
Let’s
make it more than a mere motto.
Put
your complete trust in God…
…then
get some real rest.
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