Fifth Sunday of Easter
“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
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.” (John 15:1-2).
Branches exist to bear fruit. Comparing our life to a vine, Jesus teaches us in the Gospel today that without bearing fruit a branch may seem healthy but might be taking up space where a more vibrant fruit-bearing one could be. While not bad in themselves, these branches do not make available the space for something greater to grow.
Entering into this passage more, we recognize that Christian discipleship is about being available and making room for what will produce fruit. This availability means looking at what we value; we do this by examining where we put our time and energy. That which we make ourselves available for reveals our values. Whether we are conscious of it or not, spending hours a week watching shows or busied with social media indicates that those activities are things we value. The same thing is true of people: we schedule opportunities to be with those people we care about. Perhaps this involves rearranging and cleaning our house or adding an extra layer to our dinner table so that there's a better space for those we invite over. By our availability, we become hospitable to what and who we value. By this logic, how available, how hospitable are we to the things of God? Do we make space and rearrange our time and our life around Him? In a homily, St. John Chrysostom advises his congregation that, “It would be the worst kind of folly if, while we give five and even six days to the business of this life, we wouldn't give even one day to spiritual things—or rather not so much as a small part of one day.” (Homily 5, on Matthew 1). Do we prioritize God as if our life branched from His? Do we live as though God was merely another branch of our life?
In the first reading, the interaction between Barnabas and Saul reveals what availability in Christian leadership looks like. We hear that all the other disciples “were all afraid of [Saul]: they could not believe he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26). Whereas Barnabas, despite being busy with many responsibilities, “took charge of him, introduced him to the apostles, and explained how the Lord had appeared to him” (Acts 9:27). This scene shows us how Barnabas made himself available to what God was trying to do in Saul. Following the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Barnabas gave his time to the will of God and the result was that “Saul now started to go round… preaching fearlessly in the name of the Lord” (Acts 9:28). Becoming available to God by accompanying Saul, Barnabas’ efforts were multiplied in gaining another co-worker, one who would even surpass him in influence. Taking this further, the apostle John exhorts us to “love not in word or speech but in deed and truth” (1 Jn 3:18-24), to perform the practical aspect of not only declaring that our faith is valuable to us but clearing space for it in our lives. Loving “in deed and truth” often happens in stages. Sometimes it means pruning good things so that there is more room for even better things. For example, we might choose to spend some time with Christian music and podcasts instead of just secular music or podcasts. However, as we grow perhaps we sometimes cut out music and podcasts altogether so that we can be more open to the goods that God desires to give us in silence or use that time and space to pray instead. This might look like going from being a participant in many ministries to picking one to accompany another person through or being a Connect group participant and then branching out and leading a new one. One essential piece of that includes being honest about the things we are doing and which ones are bearing fruit. St. Athanasius once remarked, "No one is going to … start behaving righteously unless he thinks about what he is doing.” (Festal Letters, 9). We are called to evaluate where we spend our time and how available we are to God so that we might more intentionally do what God calls us to do. Having the time to love with deeds and not just words can require pruning of other things in our lives which take up space so that the things of God may grow, and bear “fruit that will remain” (John 15:16) far beyond what we can ever imagine.
Practice
During this short series on Christian leadership we are looking at what it means to be teachable, available, and contagious (as in a person who models an authentically attractive pursuit of Jesus). This week we are focusing on being available. A leader makes room for what is important, and so a Christian leader sometimes has to evaluate where they are spending their time and be willing to cut out some things to be more available for what the Lord is asking of them. So our practice this week is to look at how we spend our time and then to prayerfully ask the Lord if there is something He might want us to “prune” so that we are able to bear more fruit for Him. It is very understandable to feel too busy to add much more, and the Lord is not glorified by overwhelmed disciples. But sometimes we even have to stop what is good to make room for something that is great. Things like committed daily prayer, assisting with a St. Ann ministry, maturing as a disciple through participating in different growth opportunities, or reaching out to someone else to help them in their walk with Jesus all take time. Is there a way Jesus is inviting you to prune so as to be able to bear even more fruit as a Christian leader?
Part 1: Take a time audit - Think through an average week and write down (generally) how you spend your time. You can use the below template or evaluate it with a different method. Try to be as specific and as concrete as you can.
Part 2: Spend some time in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to lead you as you reflect on how you spend your time each week:
Is there something you should cut out?
Is there something you should add?
Is there a different way the Lord might be asking you to use some of your time?
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?
Did you have any experience in this past week when you were able to practice being teachable? Maybe intentionally like one of the suggestions in the practice? Or even unintentionally through something that happened?
We see in the first reading that Paul was unable to join the disciples until Barnabas made himself available and “took charge of him.” Is there someone in your own life who helped you to grow in your walk with Jesus because of how they took interest in you?
Do you have anyone in your life that you are helping to grow as a disciple? Is there something in your life you could change to be more available for that?
John tells us in the second reading to “love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.” What do you think that means? What are concrete examples of loving only in “word or speech”? What are specific ways to love “in deed and truth”?Where in your life do you feel you are “bearing fruit”?
Is there any area of your life that might need to be pruned?
How “available” do you feel you are right now to whatever the Lord might be asking of you?