A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews:
“Beloved: While the promise of entering God’s rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it.”
Story of Rest
When was the last time you felt rested?
Recently I unintentionally fell asleep on our living room couch. It all started with me telling myself that I’m just going to place my head down for a couple of minutes until my kids arrive home from school. Of course, I have no recollection of them arriving home. The first thing that I noticed after waking up was that I was surrounded by my kids’ stuffed animals, including a stuffed Eoyore, Winnie the Pooh Character that I was grasping onto. My kids and wife started to laugh at me as they showed me embarrassing photos of me sleeping among the stuffed animals and hugging them.
Image by Jeremy Bishop from Unsplash.com
Despite this immensely embarrassing power nap, I felt well rested and was prepared to tackle our evening duties.
Making effort to enter rest
While physical rest restores our bodies and brains, resting in God (or spiritual rest) restores our souls. That all sounds very spiritual; how do we restore our intangible soul? In the same way we have to make regular time to eat and physically rest to restore our bodies, we have to make time for prayer to restore our soul. Prayer can come in different forms.
Here are a couple of things that I do to help restore my soul daily. I start my day with God. Instead of worrying about the day ahead or the problems of the world, I wake up extra early, sit with a cup of tea, and listen to a 20 minute podcast called the “Bible In A Year” with Fr. Mike Schmitz. At the time of writing this reflection, it is the number one downloaded podcast on Itunes. Next, in my drive to work, I use an app called Hallow to listen to and reflect on daily mass readings. Hallow is a Catholic meditation app that has an abundance of content that has really helped me. After listening to the readings, in the relative quietness of my car I’ll pray a rosary. Finally, at the end of my day I reflect back on my day and give thanks to God.
Resting in God means to be constantly connected to him. I have found that these various forms of prayer throughout the day, is kind of like a battery bank that I’m constantly plugged into and keeps my soul recharged. I encourage you to give these methods a try.
Let us pray,
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for always being there for me. Most days I wake up tired, feeling unmotivated, and with anxiety of the future. I open myself to the reception of Your Holy Spirit, so that my soul may be restored and prepared to face the challenges of my days. Bless me with opportunities of rest. Speak to me through your Word in Scripture and through my daily circumstances. I pray this in Your Mighty Name. Amen.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
