Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“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” (Mt 11:28-29).
The Lord invites us to find peace and joy in Him this Sabbath as we set aside time to worship and rest.
“Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God.”
Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word “Shabbat”, which literally means “to stop.” Keeping holy the Sabbath is not just a commandment, but an invitation. An invitation from the Lord to stop our work, stop our worrying, stop our striving. An opportunity to fid rest and to be renewed. A chance to refocus on the things that truly matter - the Lord, family, community. In our culture, Sunday has become a day to “catch up” on everything that didn’t get done during the week, and any time left over is often seen as an opportunity just to “get ahead” for next week. But we Christians have a chance now to remember what it means to keep the Sabbath. During this pandemic the Lord is calling us back to Himself, offering us a chance to reclaim the gift of the Sabbath, reminding us again what it means to “keep it holy.”
A basic principle for observing the Sabbath is only to do things that can be considered “rest” or “worship”. Here are a few ideas to consider to begin more to enter into the Sabbath. Maybe pick just one thing to focus on this Sunday, then next Sunday keep that practice in addition to a second one. And then the next Sunday add a third, to slowly over time begin to enter into this great gift of the Sabbath more and more.
Keep the Lord at the center - read the Mass readings ahead of time, participate in Mass, make more time for prayer, spend some extra time in silence focusing on the Lord
Try not to work - resist the urge to check your email, or catch up on a few things, and leave it for Monday
Plan ahead - take care of what needs to be done before Sunday, so plan the rest of your week to make sure you get the laundry done, have gone grocery shopping, etc.so you don’t have to do any of it on Sunday
Spend the day “screen free” - try to stay off social media, internet news, and your phone as much as possible. If you can’t make it the whole day try to go for at least a few hours
Be intentional with others - if you live with others (ie. family, roommates), is there something you can do together like play a game or go on a hike? If you live alone, can you reach out to a good friend and catch up?
Leisure, not entertainment - try to do things that are life giving; binge-watching a favorite show or playing video games for hours rarely leaves anyone with a new zeal for life. Read a good book, go on a long walk, develop a hobby.
PARTICIPATE
“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). Each Sunday we are called to “keep holy the Sabbath” and although that may look different for right now we will still come together as a St. Ann community through the gift of technology.
MASS READINGS
GIVING
Take a few minutes to give to St. Ann Parish. Please give generously and sacrificially as an act of faith during these difficult times. You can give online:
After giving, offer ways to be generous of your whole self during this trying time for our world.
“Each must do as already determined without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.”
PROCESS
“Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
Our culture seems to be infused with “Oooo, shiny!” syndrome. There’s always a new phone, a new app, a new meme, a new (fill-in-the-blank) ready to divert our attention. Old simply doesn’t sell very well. In fact, most things aren’t prized for how long they will last, but rather for the new bells and whistles they include.
Today’s psalmist begs the Lord to “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:12a). Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as running out and getting the newest model. Here in the tail end of Lent, we might find ourselves wishing God would just give us a new heart already. We’re sick of the old one - it’s bruised, beaten, lazy, inconsistent - it’s not working as well as we would like it to.
The pedagogy of God (the way He teaches us) does not follow the way of the world though, thankfully. God helps us make slow, incremental steps toward holiness. There can be miraculous breakthroughs, of course, but the path to holiness is paved with prayer, consistency, reliance on God, and humility.
When we ask God for new life, we are not asking for Him to pluck us out of our current life and drop us off in a new one - for that “new life” would not in fact be our life at all. Rather, we ask him to open the windows of our heart, if you will, to drive out the stale air and allow His breath to fill the space. Let today be the day this refrain remains on your lips: “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
Practice
Where in your life do you most need God to bring new life? What area of your “house” is “stale”? Holy Week is almost here: let us prepare ourselves by inviting the Lord to create in us clean hearts so we can worship Him fully.
Perhaps your relationship with yourself needs refreshing - have you been chastising yourself unnecessarily, or perhaps obsessing over something that doesn’t deserve your time and attention? Maybe your relationships with others could use God’s healing touch - perhaps your “clean heart” would involve a healing of jealousy, anger, or resentment. Or perhaps the relationship most in need of new life is your relationship with God: maybe you have not been giving Him the priority he deserves, or perhaps you have been avoiding letting him into one aspect of your life.
These readings are preparing us for Christ’s death on the cross - the last line of our gospel is “He said this indicating the kind of death he would die” (John 12:33). Next week is Palm Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday, where we hear the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed. Sometimes we must die to ourselves in order to see the new life God wants to bring into our life. Like the grain of wheat that falls to the ground, we are called to endure small deaths, but it is in these small deaths that God works His greatest victories. What small death is God asking you to endure so He can bring you new life?
Discussion Questions
Think about how you can continue to reflect on God’s word to you this week, and how you can invite others into the conversation. You can use the questions below for personal reflection, or to grow with others. Be creative! You could consider gathering with friends and family, or starting a group text, or a group FaceTime, to discuss the questions below.
What stands out to you from the readings this week? What might God be speaking to you at this time?
When do you plan to receive reconciliation next? If you have already been, what was it like to return to God’s mercy through the sacrament of reconciliation?
God desires for us to be His people: what do you think it means to be “His people”?
God desires to write His law in our hearts? What does that mean to you? How can you invite Him into your life and allow Him to write His law on your heart?
The Letter to the Hebrews mentions Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered” (Heb 5:8) - What does that mean to you? How can you turn your suffering into greater obedience to God the Father?
What does it mean to you to know that Jesus was “troubled” when thinking about how He would die for us?
Next week is Holy Week: do you have a space for a home altar prepared so you can bring Holy Week into your home?
We are told in the scriptures that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit, a place where God desires to dwell, a house for Him. When you close your eyes and think about it, what do you imagine the “house” of your heart looks like? Is there anything that makes it cluttered, dusty or cramped? What do you think Jesus desires in order to make it a more pure, open and spacious area for the Holy Spirit to dwell?
Where in your life do you think God desires to bring new life? How do you think God desires to bring this about?