REST IN GOD…

Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome,
and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28

My husband and I were up north for find our Christmas Tree. Along the way, we passed two of the small churches we’ve visited for Mass over the years. As we drove, we wondered together how the churches in the area will carry on in light of the priest-shortage. Though I had several suggestions for the powers-that-be, I tucked them away for another time.

As our conversation trailed off, my thoughts returned to “church” and all that it has meant to me throughout the most critical times of my life. My dad must be hovering nearby because he comes to mind…

We lived just a block down from our parish church. My parents married there. we kids were baptized there. We celebrated First Communions, Confirmations and funerals there as well. A priest walked down the block to visit my dad when he was very sick. The morning my dad passed away, I ran down the street to church. When our parish priest saw me, he knew the inevitable had occurred. After listening patiently as I sobbed, he sat me in the pew next to him –a humble substitute for my dad.

This church was a second home to me. An inscription on the ceiling read: “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest.” That day, I’d come to find rest from the most terrible burden a child could bear.

Over the months and years that followed, I realized that I’d gone to the right place –no, the right One– for rest. I’d turned to God that morning because it is in God that I found the hope which has been with me ever since…

When I returned my thoughts to those soon to be un-staffed churches, I prayed that we’ll all realize that God will remain among us to offer us rest. Regardless of who leads us in prayer, God will be with us.

Comforting God, thank you for your ever-loving ongoing presence in us all.

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