“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day. Six days you may labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God… In six days the LORD made the heavens and earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20: 8-11
Years ago, I disregarded this commandment. I resisted the Lord’s direction to hit pause on my work and reside with Him on Sundays. For most of my life, I was certain there was not another way. Convinced the work could not wait, I felt that I needed the seventh day included in my race. I would press on, plugging away at my to do list. I thought I knew better than Our Lord. A few wise friends challenged me to begin to give the Sabbath back to the Lord. They encouraged me to work at it and obey His mighty commandment. To my surprise, as I assented and began to rest on His day, my heart became lighter and somehow my work managed to be completed in just 6 days or would wait. Ruth Chou Simons echoes this in her book, Beholding and Becoming: The Art of Everyday Worship, as she reminds us, “We spin and toil anxiously over many things and it is a luxury to rest because we think everything depends on us.” The Lord offers reward and renewal to those obeying His law to rest just one day a week. For them, time stretches on. He is Lord over all. Sunday is indispensable.
I now know that I will rest on Sundays. I participate in the Mass. I come to be fed. I come for nourishment for a weary soul and to rest in His presence. Unloading my worries and my troubles, sharing my victories, I sit at His feet. My Maker knows well the language of my heart and accepts me as I am. We connect while visiting and conversing. Our Lord is pleased with my choice to rest and remain in His presence. The Sabbath, a day of rest and renewal.
Embracing the leisurely pace of Sundays took some practice. I began with baby steps. I sat on my front porch, soaking up the Lord’s creation, sipping my tea and savoring my chocolate. I slowed things down, playing games with my children and taking long walks. The Lord fed me in this place. He renewed me and opened my eyes to the beauty of Sabbath rest. “Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.’” (Mark 2:27).
Call to Act: I encourage you to inspect your Sabbath. Are there areas you could begin to cut extra activities out on Sundays? Review your schedule and deem things unnecessary or appropriate for another day. Add twenty minutes of prayer with the Lord in a favorite space or invite friends or family for a rosary or meal. My guess is that you know where to begin, there has been something tugging at your heart for a while, a place that the Lord is inviting you to give back to Him. Ask the Lord to open your heart to rest and allow Him the opportunity to renew His life within you. Rest, sister, just rest.
“Therefore, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God.” Hebrews 4:9
St. Martin de Porres, pray for us that we too can recognize the scaredness of Sundays. Beg the Lord to give us the courage to seek what He asks of us on the Sabbath. Ask Him to calm our hearts and minds so we can build our relationship with Him and be fed by Him on this most holy day of the week as we rest and renew. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Resting in Utah:)