Rest in Peace

Earlier today I was reviewing the contents of Rolheiser's The Shattered Lantern. I was taken aback when today's homily at mass directly related to something I had just read about. In today's Gospel reading, Jesus invited the apostles to rest after their having been away driving out demons and curing the sick. Jesus saw that the apostles were weary and encouraged them to take time to rest. Rolheiser speaks of unbridled restlessness as being opposed to contemplation. We are filled with restlessness in our lives-we are constantly busy and always longing to do more and be more. This restlessness keeps us from experiencing God's presence in our everyday lives. We are too busy to give thought to God. We never slow down and take time to think about what we are doing and if it is doing any real good. We have a special time each week at mass to relax and just "be" in the presence of God, but even then we are often thinking about the stressful week ahead and what we need to do to stay on top of it all. We are encouraged to take not only this brief time on Sunday, but also time during the week to rest. In resting, we may come to know those things that are really important in our lives, like family and other human relationships. Most importantly, we may use this time to reconnect with God in hopes that we will someday rest in his peace of eternal life.