Of course Jesus
knew from his own experience how the disciples felt. So many people came to him
that he often had to escape and go off by himself to rest, to pray and to get his energy back. Saint Mark doesn't try
to hide the fact that even Jesus was tired just like anyone else. We can
remember the episodes where we see the Lord seated at the well of Sychar or
asleep on the boat[2].
We must
recognize on this break from the Lord and His disciples a clear invitation to
rest; whatever we're doing most of the time we can still get tired like them so
that we need to take a rest.
Some Christians are
tempted to think that if we're going about our spiritual lives the right way
God gives us a sort of boundless energy for activity. The truth is that this could
be a little bit presumptuous.
It's wiser to be
more humble and to admit to ourselves that occasionally we suffer the same weariness
and lack of energy as everyone else. Jesus didn't make the mistake of thinking
he could carry on, indefinitely, without any kind of break, so neither should
we.
The other way in
which Jesus' attitude is relevant to us today is that it challenges the hostility
that exists in our culture in our society to the idea that quiet and stillness and just
doing nothing are valuable in themselves and sometimes even necessary.
Over the last
twenty years or so our society moves on constant activity and restlessness. Some
people seem to feel guilty if they're not permanently exhausted. The reality is
that freedom from activity and stimulation gives us time to think things
through and reflect about things in a way we can't do if we're busy all the
time. And even worst: some people now seem to get some intolerance to peace and
quiet. If they've got nothing to do, they panic. Almost immediately they become
bored and restless.
My brother, my
sister we all need some free time to recuperate our energies, not just so that
we can carry on our work better but so as to maintain a sense of balance and
inner equilibrium. The feeling of being buried under a mountain of "things
to do" gradually has a destructive effect on our personality: it causes
depression and sometimes anger and aggression. In our gospel passage today
Jesus is concerned that the disciples withdraw for a period so as to get some
quiet and rest. Our Lord promotes leisure and relaxation because the more
exhausted we are, the more difficult it is to pray or to keep up any kind of
devotional practice or regular contact with God.
The temptation,
when we're busy and agitated, is to put off praying or turning to God in a
state of quiet and relaxation. So there are all kinds of reasons why quiet, rest and leisure are important
factors in our spiritual life.
A few days ago the Pope was at Castel
Gandolfo, a small town near Rome, to spend a few days off, and from there said
something that I want to share with you this morning: «I would like to
recommend that during this time of vacation, you revivify your spirits by
contemplating the splendors of Creation. Parents, teach your children to see
nature, respect and protect it as a magnificent gift that presents to us the
majesty of the Creator! Each of us needs time and space for meditation,
reflection and calm ... Thank God it's so! In fact, this requirement tells us
that we are not made only for work but also to think, reflect, or simply to
follow a story with our minds and hearts, a story that we can connect with, in
a sense 'get lost' in to then find ourselves enriched» ■
