Homily First Friday of Ordinary Time (Heb. 4:1-5) “Take a Break”
Homily First Friday of Ordinary Time (Heb. 4:1-5) “Take a Break”
The writer of Hebrews speaks of God’s rest today. He is critical of people who do not want to enter that rest. Since we are not of the Jewish faith, we are probably a little confused by this reference. What is the point of what is being said here? God’s rest refers to two Old Testament stories.
The first is the story of creation in Genesis. We hear, in that story how God works six days to make the world. At the end of each working day there is repeated line which was, “evening came, and morning followed.” The implication was that a task was completed. On the seventh day we read that God was pleased with all that he had made, and he rested. But there is no statement that tells us that the seventh day ever ended. God does not want us to work all the time. God wants us to take appropriate rest. We have permission to do so.
The other Old Testament story that is connected to this passage is the Exodus story of the People of Israel entering into the promised land. The promised land is the place of rest. The Israelites refused to enter the promise land, at first, because they were afraid of the people who lived there. God tells them to move forward, but they refuse. Because of that, the Israelites waited to enter the promised land for a whole generation.
God wants us to experience his rest. The Lord says that this is a matter of trust. Our problem is that we do not trust the Lord. We want to control all aspects of our life. God says, lighten up, you can only do so much.
I am reminded of a story about Good Pope John. Someone asked him how he could sleep at night. He said, “My last prayer before I go to bed at night is that I remind God that I have taken care of the church all day. I tell the Lord that I am tired, and it is now up to him.”
Reflection Questions:
- How much rest do I get in my life? Do I try to do too much?
- How do I show my trust in the Lord? What do I need to let go of today?
Dear Parishioners,
One of the parish organizations that has been less active the last year has been our Saint Vincent DePaul Council. I attended a virtual meeting this week and we discussed how the SVDP might be more active again. Our council usually goes and visits those who make requests for assistance. This has become too dangerous with COVID.
What the SVDP has decided, is to do their assessments by phone.
We will especially be open to helping those in our parish who are hurting. Certainly, people have a lot of needs right now and the SVDP want to be of help.
If anyone reading this knows of a family that is struggling in our parish, please have them contact our office and we will put that family in contact with a SVDP member.
May Our Lady and all the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark