What are the two main commands that God gives for keeping holy the Sabbath? 1) to worship (participate fully, actively and consciously at Sunday – or Saturday evening - Mass), and 2) to rest from our labors, after God’s own example in creation. I had never thought before about the connection between the two, until I heard a brother priest mention it a few weeks ago. The connection between worship and rest is trust. In worship, we explicitly take the time to declare our trust in God, surrendering our lives again to him. In rest, we implicitly declare our trust in God by taking the time away from our work, knowing that we ultimately depend on him, not on our own labors.  St. John Paul II touches on both aspects:

“All human life, and therefore all human time, must become praise of the Creator and thanksgiving to him. But man's relationship with God also demands times of explicit prayer, in which the relationship becomes an intense dialogue, involving every dimension of the person. "The Lord's Day" is the day of this relationship par excellence when men and women raise their song to God and become the voice of all creation.

“This is precisely why it is also the day of rest. Speaking vividly as it does of "renewal" and "detachment", the interruption of the often oppressive rhythm of work expresses the dependence of man and the cosmos upon God. Everything belongs to God! The Lord's Day returns again and again to declare this principle within the weekly reckoning of time. The "Sabbath" has therefore been interpreted evocatively as a determining element in the kind of "sacred architecture" of time which marks biblical revelation.(13) It recalls that the universe and history belong to God; and without a constant awareness of that truth, man cannot serve in the world as co-worker of the Creator.” (Dies Domini, 15)

Good, good Father, as we take some “extended Sabbath time” on vacation this summer, help us to trust in your loving care for us and for all our needs. Even when we are going through difficult times, we will worship you and we will let you guide us into your rest.  

A.M.D.G., 
Fr. Phil Hurley, S.J.
Pastor