“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for yourselves.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Mt 11,28-30)

I am currently reading a book by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis called, The Way of the Disciple.  It is a beautiful contemplation of the gospel call to discipleship, to being with Jesus in our daily journey of spiritual growth.  The Christian life is a life of discipleship with Jesus.  It is an invitation to be with him in a personal and intimate way and to work with him in his mission of gathering all people into the kingdom of the Father and of spreading the mercy, love, joy and peace of that kingdom.  Since I am currently on a three month sabbatical “rest” in Southwest Kansas and given that I have titled this blog site, “Soul’s Rest”, a reflection on the idea of “rest” in the gospel was appealing to me and so I would like to share this reflection on this gospel passage from Matthew’s gospel.

Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis offered this reflection upon this gospel verse from Matthew:  “True, Jesus “gives us rest”.  But we must be clear that such “rest” is totally different from “resting up” in order to get back to the daily toils of life, different, too, from recreation or distraction or vacationing, all of which are ordered to getting back to the “serious” part of life.  It seems to me that this “rest for our souls” is intended by Jesus to be a real and genuine state of life, the natural condition in which a child of God habitually exists, and not just a passing phase of recovery.  It is a deep condition of soul that is quite compatible with all the ordinary exterior activities and efforts of human life…a way of life rooted in the relationship to God as Father.  Such rest is utter trust actually lived out moment by moment.”

It is certainly a spiritual paradigm shift to understand Jesus’ invitation to “rest” as a “state of life” rather than just a passing escape from the demands of the everyday world.  The rest that Jesus is promising is something that stays with us and orients our life to a deep way of abandonment and trust in Jesus.  In this state of rest, a person could be very active in their daily tasks and yet, totally at peace resting in the divine embrace of the Father, trusting that he will cause the seeds that have been sown to grow and yield a fruitful harvest.

Many people experience life as a great burden to be endured and a constant struggle that wears them down.  When we try to do things on our own, accomplish our will and live apart from the Father, like the Prodigal Son, we find ourselves without dignity, serving only the pigs.  When we wrestle with life and live in a constant state of drama and unrest then we will inevitably be wounded and carry the scars of all the battles in life that we have fought.  Ultimately we cannot win in this contest of strife and we will begin to taste despair.  Henry David Thoreau observed, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

Jesus is calling us to a new way of life in discipleship, a way of abandonment to the Father’s will, a way of trust in God’s tender mercy and a way of “rest” in the loving embrace of the Father.  Jesus promises his disciples that answer his call that “I will give you rest.”  This “rest” is something positive and dynamic, not an absence of work or of difficulty, but a new relationship of friendship with Jesus in which he will yoke himself to us and help us to bear our burdens and trials.

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…”  The way of discipleship is one in which we give up insisting that we know everything and we are self-sufficient and accepting the gentle yoke of friendship with Jesus, who is “meek and humble of heart”.  We must learn from him a way of life that is meek and humble and that leads us to a deep condition of the “soul’s rest” in the Father’s love.  Our soul longs for this rest.  St. Augustine knew our heart’s longing to rest in God, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

We can persist in a state of “restlessness” in life and slowly grow weary of life’s burdens or we can accept Jesus’ invitation to a new “state of life” and “find rest for your souls”, allowing our souls to “sing a new song to the Lord” (Ps 148,1) and live a way of “rest” in the Lord.  Jesus is calling us to a new way of life, “Come to me…”, to a vocation of love and self-gift.

Some people have remarked that my sabbatical time is busy and challenging and doesn’t seem like a time of rest.  It is true that it is not a vacation.  I am putting in long days of study and ministry at St. Mary’s but my heart is searching for that “rest” that Jesus promises in the Christian vocation of discipleship.  I am seeking to learn from him this way of life and to find the secret to this persistent state of rest in the Lord.