How could we ever be ashamed of He who saves us?
Today I was praying for many people who are sick. I had a busy day at work though, so on days like these my prayers are usually an offering of my day while I work. On days like these, God comes with me to work – as He does every day – but on days like these I feel him with me.
It is coming closer to the weekend. Thank God for that! On Saturdays I usually have a day of rest from paid employment, as I switch into household non-paid duties, so there really is no rest at all. But Sunday is an interesting day for me as a mother. I often wonder how Our Lady managed her Sabbath as a wife and mother.
I find that generally I – like many mothers – work harder on Sundays to keep the family running along smoothly than I do on other days of the week, and yet still I crave the day.
Perhaps, what I really crave is the family time. Having a young family, I am still lucky enough to have my children around me on a Sunday, and together, as a family, we can Keep Holy the Sabbath Day....
Perhaps that is what God intended for us to understand when we listen to the story of Creation (Genesis 1) and hear that on the Seventh Day, God rested?
I have been reflecting on that Seventh Day of Rest lately as I get busier at work and lent stretches out before me in a path all the way to Easter, which is creeping up almost unexpectedly this year.
I wonder now, did God rest on the Seventh Day for Him or for Me?
Obviously, God Himself did not require rest – He is the Creator of the Universe. He is the Almighty, One True God who is “I AM”. He is timeless ageless and unchanging. God does not tire, because God is eternal and immortal. Why then, is an entire “day” of creation allocated to rest?
The answer, it seems, is simply LOVE – PURE LOVE!
What does rest look like on a Sunday in my house? It looks like family – doing things with my family, watching television, eating out, visiting grandparents, cousins or friends. In other words, that day of rest is about relationships!
What is Our God if not an infinite eternal and unfathomable relationship that we understand in some limited human way through the Sacred Mystery of the Blessed Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?
You see, God Himself is an infinite relationship with Himself.
So, this day of rest – this day where we must take a moment from our work and reconnect with those we love, including our God through Worship on the Sabbath – is another example of God’s infinite love for us. We are made in HIS IMAGE! We are made for relationships because God is a relationship.
And God – through His infinite wisdom and knowledge and love – knowing that we are made in His image – provides us with the opportunity to have a relationship with those we love.
The problem is that through sin and the various perils of sin, we have lost sight of what our real work is – we have lost sight of the whole point of Creation. Scott Hahn explains this misunderstanding of ours beautifully in his book, “Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace” … “Still, we are wired for worship, and we must worship something, so we worship our work. And we consider worship to be the worst sort of work: pure drudgery.”
And so now, as the weekend approaches, and the Sabbath looms like breath of fresh air, I look forward to that Day of REST – for there is WORK yet to be done!
For with prayer, everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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