Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile. How many of you could use more rest this summer? Raise your hands. Look at this, everybody. Come away. How do we rest with Him?
Earlier this week, I went to the backfield (near the church) and prayed with this passage. And it’s interesting because I found myself, last month, you know how much I love meditative prayer and contemplative prayer; I haven’t been able to rest in prayer like that. And so, I went all the way back to the field, and as I looked across, I couldn’t help but think of the verdant pastures that the Lord speaks of. And so, I looked at this and titled this homily, The ‘Verdant Pastures of Saint Matthias.’
I thought about the readings as I looked over the field and the church. Right before the readings today, when Jesus tells the disciples to come away to a deserted place, you have to realize what just happened. Preceding this, he sent them out into the world. He’d sent them out, and they went off, and they were supposed to preach repentance. They drove out demons, anointed with oil for the sick, and cured them.
After all that time of going out and curing and healing the sick and driving out demons, they came back to Jesus, and he gathered them together. They were reporting all they had done and taught; they were excited about everything they were doing. And then Jesus says to them,
“Come away by yourselves; let’s go to a deserted place and rest a while.” He saw in them that they needed rest; it was almost like when Jesus when the woman touched the tassel on him, the power came out of him. The same thing happens to us when we are dedicating our lives to the Lord and really giving ourselves to the Lord. There’s a power that comes out of us, and he wants to restore that. I invite you right now; he’s inviting you to come away to a deserted place.
What’s really awesome about the mass on Sundays is that at the end of every mass, the Deacon commissions you to go in peace and to proclaim the good news, and every one of us then go into the world and hopefully heal the sick, proclaim the good news, preach the gospel, and cast out Satan a lot of times. We come back together on Sunday to share everything that we are doing (St. Matthias is really good at this right before mass).
Now, he wants you to rest as he gathers all of us together. Since I found myself not really able to contemplate, I journaled, and I’ve encouraged this for everybody else. It’s difficult for us sometimes to journal, as it is for me, but this turned out to be tremendously fruitful. And as I was praying about what the Lord spoke to me, I thought he wanted you to hear these words too. So, I’d like you to enter into this meditation with me and let Jesus bring us to restful waters.
If you’re comfortable, I just invite you to close your eyes. In each of these readings, we hear about a meadow, pasture, or a deserted place. I just want you to imagine being in this deserted place with Jesus. Maybe it’s a farm, maybe it’s a meadow, maybe it’s somewhere in the Metro Park, perhaps it’s the back here of Saint Mathias, somewhere that he calls you just to be with him and take you away from everybody else.
In Psalm 23, we hear, “Even though I walked through the dark valley, the Lord is my shepherd, he leads me to verdant pastures and gives me repose, besides restful waters he refreshes my soul.”
In Ephesians, we read, “Jesus came and preached peace to all who were far off and peace to those who were near, and through him we have access to the one spirit and Father.” Right now, Jesus wants to give you access to his Spirit and the Father.
Then, finally, in Mark, Jesus invites us disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” I want you just to realize we are in these glory days of summer in the July sun, and it seems like all of us are longing for rest. The only way that we can really rest is when we rest in the Lord; that will give us true rest. Jesus invites you right now to let everything else go and to be with him.
These are his words to you: “You have faced so many demons in your life; you have gone out and been my servant; now let me draw you back in. You have battled, given, and spent yourself teaching, healing, exercising, and bearing the weight of those you love, and as the power has gone out of me, it has gone out of you, but I want to restore it. You are spent, used, but not consumed; you have burned with the fire of my love. Proclaim the Kingdom. You have announced the good news, raised the battle cry, and fought against Satan.
You have shown the splendor of my glory in a world that is filled with darkness; you have been a light shining in the darkness, in the dark will not overcome it. Because of you, without even knowing it, many lives have been transformed. You’ve interacted with so many people; you’ve been challenged and have challenged. You are battered and bruised, tattered and worn; you have healed, and now I desire to heal you, to recollect you, to bring you to me. You have shown such courage, determination, and love without receiving, giving and not counting the cost. Exhausted and weary, you have walked through the dark valley. You have encountered people that have rejected you. Shake the dust from your feet. I know that even if that takes effort, you will rest more fully once you shake the dust from your feet. You have walked with the sandals I have commanded you, and now I want you to let me walk with you.”
Then I want you to imagine he takes you out into the boat, away from the shore, and this is a calm day on the sea. You’re with Jesus as the boat rocks. He tells you that with every wave that comes to the boat and rocks it, his power comes into you. As the boat moves back down and the wave rolls away from the boat, it takes away all of your stress, all of your anxiety, all of your fear, all of your anger, all of your frustration, and with each wave, this happens. He fills you with this strength, and you let go of anything else that is not of God.
Allow yourself to let the Good Shepherd hold you in that boat to restore your strength, energy, and soul. Pay attention to each wave filling you with this spirit and taking away any exhaustion, anything that keeps you from resting in his love. Just spend a few moments now in that silence with him rocking and gently on the boat.
