Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
In today's gospel reading from Mark, Jesus sends his disciples out to get some rest while crowds continue to seek out teachings and healings. It causes me to reflect over how present Jesus was, not only to the concerns of those needing care, but to the caregivers as well. But it can be quite the struggle to find that rest away from the world.
In many faith-based service roles, I've been told by priests, ministers, and other men and women of faith to "Let Go and Let God." It's a common phrase with the best of intentions. It mainly is referenced when the work of the day grows and our human limits are being exceeded. We hope that Jesus can pick up the slack, right? Sometimes the phrase is needed when we just don’t know the path forward and the mounting uncertainty seems unbearable. I want to trust Jesus can lead me, but how am I supposed to “rest a while” when I feel there is somewhere I need to go and soon?
I'm sure the disciples might have felt just as reluctant to take their much needed break. Maybe they thought it was simply a test from God to see if they would remain steadfast. I know that when I’m asked to go and rest, I can feel as if I’m not needed or I’m being put on the bench of the big game. But it truly was an authentic invitation to Let Go and Let God. But how do we respond to this invitation?
Let Go - Stepping away, realizing the world continues to spin without our every thought and action in complete focus. We have so much to do, but letting go helps us to realize we were not just made to do. We are primarily made by God to be.
Let God - Jesus has the holistic view, past, present, and future. We try to stay vigilant to ensure our future, but God wants us to be vigilant for today's worries. And when we can let God be God, we can stop being the god of our own lives (and even stop being other people's god). “Letting” or allowing God to be YHWH, the Great I Am, is an acceptance that we aren’t in control of God but quite the other way around.
Yes, the gospel reading ends with the disciples and Jesus being hunted down wherever they went. It’s actually a realistic conclusion as I’m sure we’ve all felt hunted by our duties and responsibilities while trying to find rest. I believe the most crucial part of all this is to be in the presence of Jesus. Because Jesus looks out to us in these hard times, seeing how we are like “sheep without a shepherd.” So, may we Let Go and Let God be the shepherd who can lead us into peace amidst our work and worries.
-Joe Oliveri