True Rest Is Found By Resting In God
Offering to God the very rhythm of your breathing while you sleep is a prayer in itself. Love is simple. To rest in God is to dwell in God.
“A life well lived is a life spent dwelling in love. For what remains but these three things? Faith, hope, and love. Above all love one another, I have said to you this so that you may have life and have it in abundance.” - Jesus
We take time in love. True love is steady, without rush, without risk, not contentious, but peaceful, and reliable. Slow and consistent, calm and sweet. There’s something extra nice about a hand-written letter, extra thought behind it, extra love put into it. You hold on to not only every word but even how it’s written, the penmanship of the one you love becomes special. The way they dot their I’s and swirl their letters. It’s unique, it’s special because it’s from them.
There’s something important about taking time in love. It seems the pace of the world speeds up with each passing year, only to find that its love grows colder as its speed increases. To love God well requires taking your time.
If you want to spend an eternity with God, it’s important to know how to take your time. It’s also important to know how to rest in God. True rest is found by resting in God.
I have a statue of Sleeping Saint Joseph. Underneath the statue of Sleeping Saint Joseph, you are supposed to write your prayer requests on paper and place them under his statue, so Saint Joseph can bring your prayers before The Lord.
Sleeping Saint Joseph Statue : Image From CatholicCompany.com
Let me interject a quick theology lesson on “Asking Saints to pray for us.”
Why do we Catholics, ask the Saints to pray for us? Well, because they are in Heaven, completely unified to God, and therefore you are asking them to join their prayers with yours, thus making your prayers more effective, as The Word says “For where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” - Matthew 18:20
It’s like asking a friend or loved one to pray for you, but this friend is continually beholding the beatific vision and is unified with God in Heaven. Therefore their prayers are more meritorious as they are completely alive in Heaven and constantly worshipping The Lord.
“When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of The Saints.” - Revelation 5:8
Having statues and pictures of Saints is like having pictures of your family and friends hanging on your walls. There are statues of prominent historical figures in town squares, there is famous art of well-known people throughout history. These are ways of remembering and honoring the person. Do you worship the image of your loved one who passed away hanging on your fridge? No, you don’t. You look at their image and it calls to your mind the remembrance of the person. Exclaiming that your loved ones who passed away are “watching over you” yet denouncing the intercession of The Saints is inconsistent, and lacks proper theological understanding.
For more understanding about the intercession of Saints see this article : https://www.catholic.com/tract/praying-to-the-saints
You might be wondering, well how can Saint Joseph bring our prayers before The Lord if he’s sleeping? True rest is resting in God. Offering to God the very rhythm of your breathing while you sleep is a prayer in itself. Love is simple. To rest in God is to dwell in God.
When someone has died we say, “May he Rest In Peace.” or “He has gone to sleep in The Lord.” The interesting paradox is that we are never more alive than when we are asleep in The Lord. To be asleep in The Lord is to be completely and totally alive.
When Saint Joseph was asleep, an angel appeared to him in a dream, telling him that Mary would give birth to The Son of God. The imagery of Saint Joseph sleeping is a powerful reminder of how even sleeping can be used for the glory of God. God used the means of a dream to convey the important message to Joseph.
We should be striving to take time to rest in God, and remember that true rest is resting in God. Rest that is centered around resting in The Lord, is rest that can be used for His glory and our greater good.
“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.” - Matthew 11:28-30
It’s time for the world to slow down and rest in God. True love brings true rest. True rest brings true clarity. True clarity brings true wisdom. And to know true wisdom is to know the truth. And then, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." - John 8:32
Serviam
March 14th is The Feast Day of Saint Matilda.
The month of March is dedicated to Saint Joseph. May Good Saint Joseph watch over and protect us all.
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