 I want to start with a true story from the Gospel of Luke chapter 10. It's a passage you're familiar with. I hope you'll understand quickly why I chose it to talk about the Sabbath rest. Chapter 10 verse 38 and we hear in the course of their journey Jesus came to a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all of the serving came to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Tell her to help me. But the Lord answered, Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about many things and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part and it is not to be taken from her. Okay, Martha, raise your hand. Come on, fess up. How many of us have been that way? Yes, yes, yes. And I know you've heard lots of sermons and homilies and writing about Martha and Mary. I am not a biblical exegete. You can ask sister Mary Madeline what she thinks about the scripture. My point is not to put Mary and Martha against each other. There are lots of ways to interpret this. But the Lord certainly does say there's only one thing necessary. There's only one thing necessary and Mary has chosen that and Mary has chosen it. She has chosen to be with the Lord. The point of my talk is really to encourage you, to encourage you, those of you who are busy in the vineyard, working hard, pouring yourself out as a libation. The point of my talk is to try to encourage you to take appropriate care of your physical and spiritual well-being. That's what I'm going to try to do. Your physical and spiritual well-being. To set for yourself as a goal from this conference, some time to waste time recreating yourself, or better yet, allowing God to recreate you. I'm not just talking about a vacation. I'm talking about your vocation. I'm talking about your vocation. Because all of us have been called into existence, called into existence to know the Lord's love. Amen? Amen? That's your vocation and everything else's details. So there's various ways that you are ministering and that I'm ministering the Lord, His people. I work at a retreat house in Dixon, Tennessee, appropriately called Bethany. I work, well, we have 90, 110 acres. I only have to take care of 90 of those. Hospitality, lots of beds to make, lots of rooms to clean, lots of food to cook. People come all the time. Susan's been there. I don't know anyone else. No one else has been there yet. Have you been there? Whoo-hoo. And Ashley's been there. So Bethany is an appropriate place that says come away and be with the Lord. But there I am, Martha, Martha, with a lot of work to do. And the Lord does say to me when I get that Lord, because my vocation and your vocation is to spend eternity with Him. That's what I've been created to do. And understanding the Sabbath rest is understanding that that actually begins now. If you and I are waiting to enjoy the Lord's rest for when we die, you're going to give up on the journey. We call that burnout. Some people walk away from the church. Some people walk away from the Lord. Resting in the Lord is something that God is wanting you to do now, right now, actually. Being able to rest in the Lord. The one thing necessary that Mary chose was to have a loving, attentive presence to God. And it's what he's desiring for all of us. A loving, attentive presence to God. And even as I said those words, you could have done it. Even as I said those words, you could have gone there. There. There. Where is God? Substantially in the Eucharist. Where is he dwelling grace? In your soul. A loving, intentional attentiveness to His love. You can go there at any moment. So if this was a Stephen Covey workshop, we'd do the whole, you know, first things first, right? And you know Stephen Covey? Who's my business people? Yeah, first things first. And so to begin the conversation on the Sabbath rest, it is important to start with first things first, which is the goal of my life, my ministry, my vocation. Why do I do what I do? Why am I here? What's it all about? Alfie, right? Bob Rice is not the only one with bad music jokes. I'm just not going to dance. Putting first things first. And actually what I'd like to try to do with you in this talk is not so much looking for the balance between being poured out like a libation because that's what Catechist, DREs, parish leaders, moms and dads are doing. Like, you know, everybody's sucking the life out of you. Yes. So I'm not wanting to do the balance between work and rest. What I'd like to try to do is help you to learn to integrate that, to become an integrated person where God's rest, you being able to enter into his rest, is in all the time, not in either or and all the time, not in either or. And I think to do that is it's helpful to have a little bit of a biblical understanding of what rest is. So I gave you a handout that has some quotes from a book that I read. Well, I read it before, but then I really deeply studied it called The Sabbath by Rabbi Abram Joshua Heschel. Haven't you read the book The Sabbath by Rabbi Heschel? Oh, good. See, you get your money's worth. A new book to read and study. Look at that. You thought you weren't going to get anything new here. So there you have it. So it's something new for you to ponder, to look at and study. And I just want to take you through. This is a very simple presentation. I'm not trying to be clever. I just want to draw your attention to some things that are true and hope that they would unlock in your mind, in your heart. This need to enter into God's rest. What that means and how to do that. Okay, so I'm going to keep it very simple. So the number one quote that you have there. The first insight that Rabbi Heschel offers us has to do with the meaning of Sabbath. What does the Sabbath mean? What does it mean? And he says that the meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time. Time. It's a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation, from the world of creation to the creation of the world. Does anybody else need a handout? Catherine, do you have some more? Anybody need a handout? Okay. So he's doing a little play on words there intentionally. So entering into the Sabbath is about celebrating what is eternal in time. Time for us is linear. It started with what's actually the material decomposition of matters is kind of one way that the philosophers define time. But time is the marking of growth, death, the cycle. But the Sabbath actually takes us to that time before there was time, the creation of the world. When God, who was perfect and is perfect in himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, perfect, perfect relation of love, chose to create a material world that you and I could live and thrive and be in. And that creation of the world was for us that there would be this relationship with God himself. And it should pause us to think why? If he's perfect in himself, if he needs no one and nothing, why? He who is eternal, no beginning, no end creates this creature who is very material with the beginning to be in relationship, that we would begin to experience this eternal love. And so the Sabbath is an opportunity to draw us into that reflection of God's unbounding, creative love that while he didn't have to, he chose to be with me, to be with you, that you could be with him. Why did God create anything so that you and I could share in his eternal exchange of love? Rabbi Heschel continues, whoever wants to enter into the holiness of the Sabbath day must first lay down the profanity of clutter, all the things that are around my life in my life that can be distracting because I haven't quite learned how to place them in line with the Lord, whatever is profane in that, this hustle and this bustle that I can get myself trapped into, I have to put that in context. Why do I do what I do? What is the purpose of the work that I'm doing? If I lose the telos, if I lose the goal, if all of my lesson plans and all of my e-mails and all of this is not about the kingdom of God and helping people to enter into the kingdom, then I have lost focus. I have lost focus purifying that, letting God be present in that helps remove some of that clutter. But then there are also times when we have to step away from the clutter, stepping away from it, turning the phone off, turning the e-mail off, taking some days for retreat, making a holy hour, carving that time out in our schedule where no one's coming into that space except God. No one's coming in there except God. Now I was talking to Marcel last night, Marcel Lejeune, who's a very, very busy person. I don't know if you know him, but he is quite busy and he is very animated in what he's doing with young apostles, with evangelization. He's just all over the place. And I said to him, Marcel, I'm a little worried about proposing to my lay catechist here that they need to stop, drop, and pray every day that in their schedule there needs to be appointments. And no one else is on that appointment except God. And he said, say it, sister, say it boldly, and then duck. So I did. Because for a sister, we are blessed to have times of prayer and it's kind of built into our life. Now whether I show up with a real presence, that's my fault, but I'm called to the chapel three times a day and I have that time carved out. It's protected and I just have to use it well. So what's my excuse when God says, sister, sister, you're busy about a lot of things, only one thing's necessary, but you also have that same vocation for union with God. We all have the same vocation of union with God. You exist and I exist for one purpose that he would be fully alive within me in this world. It begins now. Now I'm not waiting till I die right now. That relationship with him, I am been created to be full of grace. And so have you been created to be full of grace, full of his love, full of his presence. That doesn't mean you're going to give birth to the incarnation. That's been done once. I get that. I get that Mary's capacity to be full of grace looked a particular way, but you have no less the same vocation. That is the contemplative life. It is the ongoing surrender, the ongoing work of allowing God to stretch inside out. Grace upon grace, St. John says. And for me to do that, I have to carve out intentional times in my schedule that says to God, I'm yours. Do with me as you will. I need this relationship. I want this relationship. I want to know you. I want to see you. It's my vocation. It's my first vocation is union with God and everything else has to fall in place with that. Rabbi Heschel in number three, he says that according to Aristotle, we need relaxation because we cannot work continuously. Relaxation is not the end. It is for the sake of activity, for the sake of gaining strength for new efforts. But this is not the biblical view. Rabbi Heschel says, the Sabbath is not for the sake of the week day. I work all week and then I'm off. Of course, for many of you, that's not true because Sunday is your busy day. The Sabbath is not an interloop, but the climax, the climax, because what happened on the Sabbath? God rested on the Sabbath. After creation, he rested on the Sabbath. And what does that mean to rest? It is a contemplative gaze. It is a contemplative gaze to look at the world, to look at creation, to look at you and say it is good. So Rabbi Heschel, he continues in this work about time and eternity and he asks the question, where can the likeness of God be found? Where can I actually encounter God in his richness? And he says that there's no mountain high enough. Now, I was tempted to sing there. There's no mountain high enough. There's no valley low enough. There's nothing beautiful enough that can really fully grasp the eternal, the expansiveness of God except timelessness. Timelessness is the closest taste we have of God. You've walked into the chapel to make a visit and you get up 20 minutes later and you just wanted a short visit, but what happened? It became timeless. You went to Mass and the liturgy became timeless and you walk out and you look at your clock and it's two hours later. Now, that might not be happening in all of your parishes, but sometimes it happens here. I don't know how you were this morning or even last night, but the liturgy just draws me in here and I'm not looking at my clock. Has anyone experienced that so that you can have some sense of that timelessness? There's a buoyancy of your soul. Rabbi Heschel says that's what God tastes like. That's what God looks like. That's what God feels like where there was no clock. This kairos. It's eternity in disguise. And that can be hard for us because we are conditioned to watch the clock. I'm watching the clock now. We wake up at a certain time. We've got to get the kids to school. We've got to get ourselves to school. We've got this class, that class, this meeting, that meeting and we're driven by clocks. And that can be such a challenge to step away into a timelessness when we are pushed around literally by the hands of a clock. But what I'm proposing to you, dear friends, what I'm challenging you, what I'm asking you to engage in is a serious, a serious self-examine of if we don't stop that kind of rat race, we will lose a taste for God. So sometime in our month, in our day, in our year, we have got to intentionally carve out timelessness. That's what a retreat is. There's no watch. There's no clock. I don't have to be anywhere. That's what I'm offering you tomorrow. And I did have a few cateches last year do that. They walked through that door at adoration and didn't walk back out until the end of the time. We have carved that out for you. You don't have to be anywhere tomorrow to have some time for timelessness. Because as you taste timelessness, you are tasting eternity. And the more you taste eternity, dear friends, the more your desire for God increases. And as that desire increases for him, then you're able to do the merry, be at his feet wherever you are. So again, I don't want to get into the either or work or prayer, rest or activity. But how do I integrate this? How do I become a person who is always aware of the timeless eternal presence of God within? How does that happen? What makes a contemplative soul? What makes a mystic a mystic? Is there always in that conversation with God? They're always at his feet, no matter where they are. Because that hunger for him, that awareness of him, and that's not always a warm fuzzy feeling. I'm not saying that. I know where he is and I know how to go in and find him. And I know how to touch base all day long, wherever I am, whatever I'm doing. Intentional times set aside for God, where there's no clock, there's no, I have to be someplace someone's looking for me, give you that hunger to be with him always. That's the goal of spiritual life, is to be with him always. Martha, Martha, you're busy about many things. Well, there's a lot of work to do, Lord. There's a lot of work, a lot of kids need to hear the message. My pastor's asking for these things. There's just, you know, this meeting that, you know, that's not what I'm saying, Martha. It's not what I'm saying. You're busy about those things. You're busy about those things. And you're not aware that I'm with you in all of those things. I'm with you in all those things. One of our most beloved Psalms is number 23, the Good Shepherd. I started the day in contemplative prayer with that. Rabbi Heschel identifies an important correlation with Psalm 23 and the Sabbath rest and the Sabbath rest. He says, the essence of the good life is manuha, manuha. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I lack for nothing. There's various interpretations of that passage. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I lack for nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters, the waters of manuha. And he goes on to say that in time, later times, this manuha became a synonym for eternal life. Restful waters. He leads me to restful waters, eternal life, tasting eternity. So God, the good shepherd, the Lord is always wanting to pull you to those places of rest all day long, all day long. Every moment, the restful waters are within where he dwells in the grace of your baptism. And he's wanting you to go there and to rest, to be present to him because he is present to you. But there's something, there's something in that psalm, dear friends, that I think is critical for us as those who work in the ministry of catechesis, that a lot of times I think our frenetic busyness, our busyness that happens, Martha Martha, you're busy about many things, is that we do think we have to do it all. We do fall into that trap, that I have to do all this work, and the Lord provides. And so an examination of conscience that I want to offer to you, that I hope you take to prayer tomorrow is, what is your reliance on God? Or you put your hands up and say, I don't have any more time. This is your work, Lord. And I'm going to let you have that. I'm not going to fill my schedule with one more thing. I'm going to trust that if I book you in for 30 minutes, for 60 minutes, that if I spend that time with you, because that is my primary vocation, that you will care for the things that need to happen. They might not be perfect, Martha Martha, who are busy about many things. The lesson plan is done. The meeting is scheduled. The teachers are gathered. The PowerPoint isn't done. And so I'm not going to do it. That's not being reckless. And it does take discernment of spirits, which is why I do want you to go to sister's talk. You need to discern this. But if you look at your day and you look at your schedule and you and you are convicted and committed to this primary vocation of union with God, of resting in this contemplative gaze of his love and experiencing that, then you will be committed in your daily schedule to have that time. And all throughout your day, wherever you're going, walking to the fieldhouse, walking to the port, walking to lunch. Where's God? He's with you. As Catechist, dear friends, and this isn't all my script, but the Lord just said, say it. So as Catechist, you know, your work is trying to bring people to the Lord. Okay. And so you have to become savvy. You have to craft this ability to be speaking to someone and praying to God at the same time. It's pretty cool, isn't it? Some of you probably already do that. Those of you who teach high school kids, you do it all the time. And what is that? That interior dialogue? Yes, I'm in ministry, but I know where this source is coming from. And he will be the one to speak, to care for, to heal, to give truth to. So, so choosing to step away for time for rest intentionally creates in us, again, this, what does timelessness feel like? I want my soul to have this memory of, of God's eternity. I need that memory of his eternity so that when there are many things going on, I'm still in those still waters of rest, but I will not be able to get there if I've never tasted that timelessness. That's what a contemplative person is able to do. And the great saints, Dominic, Francis, Mother Teresa, John Paul, do we, did you see how much work these people have done in the history of the kingdom? Set the world on fire because everything odd extra was always from the Audentra. There's a great story about Mother Teresa's sisters or one of them said, Mother Teresa, we don't have time to make a holy hour. Look at all these people we need to take care of. Mother Teresa said, now we'll make two, two holy hours, two holy hours. You think you don't have time for one holy hour? Now we'll make two. There's nothing you will do out there that will be of any good if within here he is not present. We are in a Eucharist of revival. Amen. Amen. How many people will bust that door down to get to him here? I don't know. But if you have him dwelling within you, oh, now we're out there. Part of the Eucharistic revival isn't just about bringing people in the church, though that is important, but you being present in the world. You are the Eucharistic revival as much as having people know Jesus as the Eucharistic revival. At least that's what I think. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. But you have to be a tabernacle out there for people to encounter the Lord as you speak to them, as you look at them, as you're present with them and they can sense God within you. Is that making sense? You are part of the Eucharistic revival. You are necessary to it as ambassadors that go forth with his living presence with him. John Paul the 23rd had this great saying, when he went to bed, he said, it's your church, Lord, I'm going to bed. Your church, I'm going to bed. Dear we as Catechists and those who work in ministry, be able to say to the Lord, it's your class, it's your children, it's your parish, right? It's your family. I'm going to the chapel. I'm going to the chapel. I need to just be with the Lord. I need to be with you and have some time. I also gave you some quotes there from D.A.'s Dominate. This is the 25th anniversary. And so just some things that St. John Paul was, Pope John Paul was encouraging us to rediscover, is this, and D.A.'s Dominate actually fulfills Rabbi Heschel because what he's bringing us to is the eighth day. So the seventh day is the day of rest where God contemplates, gazes on the beauty of creation. So entering into the Sabbath rest for you and I is the ability to contemplate, to be aware of God's presence everywhere, all the time. John Paul II brings us into the eighth day, that mysterious first day all over again, the recreation that happens on Sunday, this eighth day. And the more we enter into this eighth day, this recreation, the more we enter into it is the degree we enter into this mystery of time, the mystery of time, the eighth day that what's happened in the resurrection, what's happened with the resurrection is Christ giving us a new beginning, a new start in grace. It's what it's all about. I have come that I may dwell in you and you dwell in me, he says, that there is an alive presence within you and this is what we take forth. This is what we take forth. So in paragraph seven, John Paul II says to us, I strongly encourage everyone to rediscover Sunday, Sunday, do not be afraid to give your time to Christ. I do recognize that I'm looking at lay people who have families, you have jobs, there is much that is being asked of you. But much is asked of me as well. And I fall into the same temptation of Martha, Martha. I do. It is a struggle that that, well, I'm in the struggle. But if we hope to be part of the renewal of the church, if we hope that our words will be effective in bringing people to Christ, that our Sunday, our day of rest becomes a true opportunity to be with the Lord, to delight in the Lord. That's not doing nothing. It's just delighting in him, being able to let your family delight in the Lord. So look at your schedule, look at your time, look what's being asked of you. Have those conversations with your pastor. Where in your schedule can you put in some time for the Lord? Challenge yourself to do that. How on Sunday will you allow yourself to experience a timelessness, a joy of God's love and presence? To recreate yourself, to let God recreate you, that in the divine rest, in the divine rest, coming into that place where God dwells, you have a chance and opportunity to experience his profound love for you. Because if you do not experience his profound love for you, it becomes near impossible to convince someone else of that profound love. And that is your mission, the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. I invite you just to go within where God dwells in faith and hope and charity. Lord, let us not be busy about many things. Let us be attentive of the one thing which is you, present in our souls. You have called us to this union, and wherever we go and whatever we do, keep us tethered to your presence, that we can always take this very quick, simple, peaceful journey within. By still waters you lead us, Lord, help us to trust that you're going to do all that needs to be done in our ministry. That if we are attentive to you, all else will fall in place. Let us rest with you, Lord. Let us rest now and inflame our desire to rest with you forever. Name the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.