“Your souls will find rest.” —Matthew 11:29

Are you too busy? Are you overwhelmed with life’s demands? If so, God has a better way for you. In talking with a priest one day who had completely burned out at one point in his ministry told me something I will never forget regarding his ministry workload, he said, “The Lord is not a slave driver, the devil is.” He went on to explain, that the Lord called him to minister to his flock, but it was the devil who was whispering lies in his ear, and mentally using a whip to get him to work faster, and faster, to take on more and more than he could handle. One day the priest realized the Lord was not pushing him like this, it was the devil. And he stopped operating like that. He needed REST. And the Lord was calling him to Rest in Him. The below reflection from Presentation Ministry’s One Bread, One Body struck me as many of us try to serve the Lord, and meet all the demands of work and family, but it was a good reminder that we need to know the Lord is not a slave driver, the devil is.

We disciples labor under the yoke of Jesus (Mt 11:30; Lk 9:23). Jesus therefore calls us to rest in Him (Mt 11:29). Even resting in Jesus demands effort on our part. Each day we have to “strive to enter into that rest” (Heb 4:11). Mysteriously, disciples often rest better when they are most diligent.

There’s a balance to entering Jesus’ rest. We can’t strive too hard, for our efforts alone are futile (Is 26:17-18). We must let God’s rest be done unto us (Lk 1:38). We yield to His grace, but avoid laziness, since we must cooperate with God’s grace by accepting Jesus’ yoke and bearing His burden (Mt 11:30).

Jesus Himself had no place to rest His head (Lk 9:58). This probably refers to more than a bed. Jesus also had no place to Himself. His “place” was constant interruptions, a lack of privacy, a life on the move, etc. Like Jesus, we embrace our cross of fatigue and weariness. Amidst our fatigue, we have a fountain of life and rest which never runs dry. That “rest” is not found by those who take shortcuts or evade the cross. It’s found by those who keep walking the path of Calvary, push through the cross, and discover that, in the place where He was crucified, is a garden (Jn 19:41). In that garden, found only at the foot of the cross, is the “rest” and the strength to endure.

St. Augustine said: “Our heart is restless until it rests in You” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 30). “Come to” Jesus (Mt 11:28). Enter into His rest.

Prayer:  Jesus, help me not to rest when I should be serving You (Mt 26:43-45) or to work when I should be resting in You (Ps 127:2; Ex 31:15). Only in You “is my soul at rest” (Ps 62:1).

Promise:  “My yoke is easy and My burden light.” —Mt 11:30

Praise:  St. Apollinaris, tradition says, was ordained by St. Peter and noted for his gift of healing.