By Sister Marie-Aimee, O.C.D.
Sometimes life can feel like a treadmill that has been cranked up just a little too high. We are running and somehow manage to stay on but it feels like we are moments away from being flung off the back end. When we do find a second to sit down and catch our breath, we fill the time with noise and distractions, scrolling or texting or playing games. We find it difficult to be silent and even more challenging to be still. We have lost our ability to rest.
This summer I read a verse in chapter 35 of the book of Exodus that took my breath away. It wasn’t one of those “struck by beauty” moments, it was a more like a slap to the face or blow to the heart. Moses is instructing the people about the Sabbath and in verse 2, he reminds them: “On six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy to you as the Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord.” So far so good. The next sentence was the one that floored me. “Anyone who does work on that day shall be put to death.” Shall be put to death? DEATH?!? At first I was shocked, but the more I have pondered this, the more I hear the Lord speaking into our deep wound as human beings.
Work is good, human, necessary, normal, but we tend to make it the highest good, placing the highest value on effort, usefulness, productivity. We find our worth in what we do rather than in who we are, to Whom we belong. When we place productivity and usefulness on the throne, the human person is reduced to slavery and even the Sabbath rest is subordinated, put at the service of work. But the Sabbath is not a pit stop to refuel for the “real” work of the rest of the week. Rather, the Sabbath is the crown of creation, the highest value, the end for which we are created.
Leisure, the Sabbath rest, is meant to cultivate space in our lives and in our hearts to receive, to gaze upon, to take in what God is doing throughout our week. In a sense, it is an opportunity to re-read our experiences in the light of His love and make room to receive all that He wants to give us.
And what does He want to give us? Himself. In silence, under the simple appearance of bread, God who holds our lives in His hands, enters into the intimate depths of our hearts. When you receive Him in the Eucharist, allow Him to make space in your heart for His love and His mercy. When you receive Him in the Eucharist, allow Him to give you rest.
