JESUS, OUR REST

“The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” – Luke 6:5

If we look at the Old Testament, God moves in “sevens.” He created for six days and rested on the seventh.

After six years of planting and harvesting, He commanded to let the land and farmer rest on the seventh year. At the seventh of seven years—50 years—a jubilee is declared. It’s a rest from all debts and restoration of property that was lost. It is the rest of rests.

For six years, I gave the prime of my twenties to Jesus. I concentrated on reading Scriptures, attending Bible studies and prayer meetings, and serving Him in different ministries. It was great! On the seventh year, He brought me to a different place in my life where I met new people and a new community. It was where I met my future wife.

God called me to rest.

These past few weeks were not as busy for work. This rest afforded me to devour more of His Word by reading Scriptures, researching related topics, and listening to audio teachings. It was like having a spiritual buffet that gave me the grace to pray more intensely and experience His love.

In any season of life, He calls us to enter the Sabbath—for Jesus is our rest. Ariel Driz (adriz77@yahoo.com)

Reflect: Jesus is our jubilee. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is our Rest.

Lord Jesus, grant me the grace to enter Your rest. Amen.

Blessed Frederick Ozanam, pray for us.

Sin alienates us from God. When we sin, we turn away from Him. God and sin cannot abide together. The more we sin, the further away we go from God. We need to recognize the destructive nature of sin in our relationships and be determined to leave sin and temptation behind us.

Colossians 1:21-23

21 Brothers and sisters: You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds; 22 God has now reconciled you in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him, 23 provided that you persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, am a minister.

Psalm 54:3-4, 6, 8

R: God himself is my help.

3 O God, by your name save me, and by your might defend my cause. (R) 4 O God, hear my prayer; hearken to the words of my mouth. (R) 6 Behold, God is my helper; the Lord sustains my life. 8 Freely will I offer you sacrifice; I will praise your name, O Lord, for its goodness. (R)

GOSPEL

The priests of the Old Covenant did not have land on which to grow their own food. They relied on other people’s donations. This is the reason why food was reserved for priests. However, we need to understand the spirit behind this practice. Jesus knows this and refers to a king from the past, David, who also understood this distinction.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.

Luke 6:1-5

1 While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. 2 Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” 3 Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? 4 How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions.” 5 Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

think: How do you implement rules and regulations that are tempered with love and mercy?

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EXTERNAL APPEARANCES

I was in a white pristine barong, black pants, and leather shoes. I had just met with someone over dinner and I was heading to my car parked near the roadside pavement. I opened the door and stepped in when I realized something was wrong. I fell straight into a canal—with knee-high mud that had a stinky smell. Instead of checking myself if I was hurt, I found myself saying: “My shoes, my pants, and my polo!”

External appearance has become a big business industry. There is an overwhelming obsession to project a fashionable appearance. Because of this obsession, businesses like salon, spa, cosmetics, and derma clinics have become very profitable.

In Jesus’ time, the Pharisees too were conscious of their external appearances. Jesus described them: “You are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. You outwardly appear righteous to people, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (see Matthew 23).

They were very strict, overly insisting, and stubborn. They followed even the tiniest detail of rules to project an image, to appear holy and better than the rest. Even if Jesus tried to explain to them what happened to David, the Pharisees did not understand because their minds were closed.

I think all of us have, at one time or another, been drawn to this tendency to project an image that’s more than who or what we really are. We want to preserve our image. We become more concerned about how we look or appear to others.

Jesus warns us not to be carried away by external appearances. Rather, let us be more concerned about how we appear to God. Fr. Haluendo Amit, OCD

------- REFLECTION QUESTION -------

Which do you take care of more—your external appearances or your interior life?

Remind me always, Lord, and convict me if I get too obsessed with my external appearances. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ______________________________