Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Maybe it’s because I’m really feeling a need for a break and am preparing to go on a vacation with my family next week that today’s first reading stood out to me. I don’t usually feel drawn to the Old Testament book of Leviticus with it’s laws, rules and regulations that can come across as dry. But today’s reading from chapter 23 includes the phrase “you shall do no work” or “you shall do no sort of work” four times! That certainly caught my attention.
Written about the time after the Israelite’s Exodus from slavery in Egypt, and during their time of encampment at Mount Sinai where Moses was given the Ten Commandments, it may seem very far removed from us. But this is the history that Christianity developed from through Jesus. And I am reminded of the wisdom to be found in having a work-rest rhythm to our lives as is described, even instructed, in today’s passage.
What does that look like for us Christains today? I find it increasingly difficult to observe the Sabbath rest of our ancestors as the boundaries between work and home, public and private, have become increasingly blurred. As we carry access to the rest of the world (including our children and aging parents) around in our pockets, and home for many of us has become “office” as well in the past year and a half, how do we draw the lines to keep holy the sabbath and “do no sort of work” even one day out of seven?
As challenging as it is, I feel the need and recognize its wisdom. Whether it be a retreat, or time away with family or friends, a walk alone in the woods, or extra time in a church or chapel, I think the “sabbath” is calling me, calling us. The author of Leviticus also calls its people to offer the first fruits of their labors. As well as the need for rest, I am reminded of the blessing of my work and the importance of offering prayers of thanksgiving for the “fruit” of that work, which comes from God. And I am reminded of (and pray for) those unable to work and those unable to rest.
May God grant us the grace to honor the wisdom of “sabbath rest” in our lives today.
~Eileen Miller