Saturday After Ash Wednesday

Are you busy most weekends like I seem to be? I had always envisioned the empty nest season as one of rest. I thought time would slow down for my husband and me. Some weekends are like that but not too many. When Lent comes around and I know I need to take a step back, I have to be conscious about it.

Take a few minutes to glance at today’s first reading from Isaiah (58:9-14). God is speaking directly to us through the prophet. He says if we take good care of those around us, do not stand for “false accusation and malicious speech,” if we feed the hungry mouths within our reach, if we comfort the “afflicted” (this sounds very much like the job of parents to me!) then the “Lord will guide you always.” It is a perfect Saturday reading as we finish up the duties of the week.

The next verses tell what the reward will be for ministering to those close to us. It is a beautiful vision:

“He will renew your strength

And you shall be like a watered garden

Like a spring whose water never fails…

‘Repairer of the breach’ they shall call you

‘Restorer of homesteads’”

I am moved by the pictures these words bring to mind. I don’t know about you, but I am in need of having my strength renewed. When exactly does this happen for the busy Catholic? God states it clearly, it is when we make the time to rest. “If you call the sabbath a delight” says the Lord, “then I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob your father.”

This is something I really need to work on. Sunday is often a great day to catch up on chores, to do some running around that is not easily done during the week. I need to heed the words of God this weekend and honestly every weekend. God knows the human heart. He knows we have a drive to work and stay busy. He also knows that no great work is going to be accomplished by his disciples if we do not make time to rest. We ignore the urging of God. That is why we go into the workweek unrefreshed, our reserves running low, and our patience stretched thin.

Dear God, show us all how you mean for us to rest this week. Allow us to have our strength renewed, to feel like “a watered garden.” Then we will be prepared to greet the week, repairing the breaches in our family and the world around us, restoring our earthly homesteads with the energy infused by a rest in the Lord.

Amen