It's been a few weeks since my last post - It's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks! Just to give you a quick re-cap of parish life here with our youth: here at the parish we've been on "mini-missions" with the middle and high school students serving parishioners and the parish doing yardwork. In the evenings we've been spending our time playing outdoor games, growing closer as a community and also spending time in Church with Jesus and growing in our faith. These past two weekends we've also celebrated the sacraments of 1st Communion and Confirmation and welcomed two new members into the Church through RCIA! Never a dull moment in parish life :)
I've also reflected much on the balance of busyness and peace (or lack thereof) during this time. It's something that we can all relate too. I think for some, there was a certain sense of peace or at least time to slow down during quarantine. Now that school is around the corner and our world is very chaotic, our lives seem to be picking up again. I'm reminded of the story of when Jesus comes to visit Mary and Martha in the town of Bethany. "Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing.[l] Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” ~Luke 10:38-42 Jesus tells Martha that her busyness is taking away from the time she needs to spend time in a less frantic state and find that peace and rest in Him that we all need in order to be well and focus on our true priorities. He isn't saying that all of our time should be in Church, or that we should be relaxing all the time - I don't think any of us could even imagine that! However, He is inviting us to remember that as much as we want to be there for others and make sure we do our best in all aspects of life, we must also rest. We must take time to rest in Him by making time with Him our priority. We must also take time for self-care. If you haven't heard already this year Bishop Ricken has consecrated the year to St. Joseph. Lately I have been praying through and reading the Consecration to St. Joseph book by Donald H. Calloway MIC. It is amazing and I could go on and on about it, but today I just want to share one part with you. St. Joseph is the patron of workers, but there is also a devotion of the sleeping St. Joseph! What a balance that is needed, and such a holy man shows us this beautiful example. A French poet Charles Peguy wrote about the importance of sleep in a poem titled The Portal of the Mystery of Hope. It is written from God's perspective and is meant to remind us that God delights in his children when they sleep - here is an excerpt from it: "Just sleep. Why don’t people make use of it.I’ve given this secret to everyone, says God, I haven’t sold it. He who sleeps well, lives well. He who sleeps, prays. (He who works, prays too. But there’s time for everything. Both for sleep and for work. Work and sleep are like two brothers. And they get on very well together. And sleep leads to work just like work leads to sleep. He who works well sleeps well, he who sleeps well works well.) There must be, says God, some relationship, There must be something going on Between the kingdom of France and this little Hope. There’s some secret there. They work too well together. And yet they tell me That, there are men who don’t sleep. I don’t like the man who doesn’t sleep, says God. Sleep is the friend of man. Sleep is the friend of God. Sleep may be my most beautiful creation. And I too rested on the seventh day. He whose heart is pure, sleeps. And he who sleeps has a pure heart. This is the great secret to being as indefatigable as a child. To have that strength in your legs that a child has. Those new legs, those new souls And to start over every morning, always new, Like the young, like the new Hope. Yes, they tell me that there are men Who work well and who sleep poorly. Who don’t sleep. What a lack of confidence in me. It’s almost worse than if they worked poorly but slept well. Than if they worked but didn’t sleep, because sloth Is no worse a sin than anxiety In fact, it’s even a less serious than anxiety And than despair and than a lack of confidence in me. I’m not talking, says God, about those men Who don’t work and who don’t sleep. Those men are sinners, it goes without saying. They get what they had coming to them. Great sinners. All they have to do is work. I’m talking about those who work and who don’t sleep. I pity them. I’m talking about those who work, and who thus In doing this are following my commandment, poor children. And who, on the other hand, don’t have the courage, don’t have the confidence, don’t sleep. I pity them. I hold it against them. A bit. They don’t trust me. As a child lays innocently in his mother’s arms, thus do they not lay. Innocently in the arms of my Providence. They have the courage to work. They don’t have the courage to do nothing. They possess the virtue of work. They don’t possess the virtue of doing nothing. Of relaxing. Of resting. Of sleeping. Unhappy people, they don’t know what’s good." This poem reminds us that sleep is so important and even such a simple act requires trust in God. How much more would we be able to trust God during the day, if we took this advice and trusted Him through the night, or the times that we aren't able to control what is going on around us. When we admit and we hand over our worries, fears and anxieties to God, He is able to provide so much more for us. During these past few weeks in the busyness of the missions and preparing for the sacrament Masses, it was often difficult for me to take a step back and trust. I wanted to be in control of everything and make sure that everything went according to plan - and there were many instances where this was very important because I was running the events and planning the details of the Masses. However, there were also many moments where I was able to step back and trust God that He would take care of the moment. I have to say I didn't do this as often as I would have liked, but when I did God provided so beautifully. For example, during the mission we were doing yard work and I was worried we weren't going to get it all done in time because we had some technical difficulties with the hedge trimmer and we weren't working as quickly as I thought we might. However, when I took a step back, put aside my worries about how much would get done, just kept working side-by-side with the students, enjoying the service we were doing and just being present in the moment, I was able to see that God provided all the time we needed for the work that needed to be done. This reminded me of the other story in the Bible about Jesus and Mary and Martha. "17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus[d] had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles[e] away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[f] Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,[g] the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” ~Luke 11:17-27 This happened after Jesus told Martha to spend not at much time being busy, but keeping a relationship with God as the priority. Here, Martha told Jesus that she knew God would give whatever He asked. She had that trust, even though she couldn't control when Jesus had come, she trusted Him to do what was best. She probably would have greatly preferred if her brother hadn't died, but she recognized that God's will was better than her own and she put her trust in Jesus. When she did so, the most amazing miracle happened - her brother Lazarus was brought back to life!! See how God provides so much more when we trust? I'm not saying we can just say "Jesus I Trust in You" and all our worries and fears go away. It took Martha from the Bible some time to learn how to trust Jesus, and it will take us time as well. We must be patient with ourselves, but not give up repeating that phrase, "Jesus I Trust in You!" And truly giving to Him EVERYTHING. Remember even in the busyness that God must remain our priority, and we must make time for self-care. "He who sleeps well, lives well. He who sleeps, prays. He who works, prays too. But there’s time for everything. Both for sleep and for work."
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