A really good rest

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THERE are, of course, different ways and kinds of rest.

But we should try to have a really good one that is fit to our dignity as persons and children of God. And this kind of rest can only be found in Christ who precisely said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11,28)

It is this rest that takes care of all the aspects of our need for rest—physical, mental, emotional, etc.—integrating them and reinforcing them in their contributions to serve, rather than undermine, our human and Christian dignity.

With this rest, our love for God and for others continues to vibrate. In fact, with this rest, our love for God and for others would grow and would keep on being creative and inventive. With this rest, a certain renewal takes place that would trigger impulses and drive to continue doing good in spite of difficulties.

It is this rest that would prefigure the ultimate heavenly rest that Christ promised us to enjoy, where endless and pure bliss is assured. Of course, in our temporal and earthly life, our rest would always include some sacrifice, and we should not be surprised by that reality. We need to understand that a really good rest is one that will always nourish and fuel our love for God and for others.  Otherwise, it is not a real rest.

We have to be wary of associating our rest with the merely physical, mental or emotional, etc., because without basing it on Christ they can only give us some semblance of rest but not the real one. Sooner and later it can only lead us to some anomalies and irregularities that, of course, are not proper to us.

Sad to say, the common idea of rest nowadays is one where Christ is not the basis and the end. It is the kind that does not result in the renewal and growth of real love. It rather feeds our self-love, definitely a sweet poison.

And as a consequence, it is a deceptive kind of rest that can give some feelings of rest that actually would give rise to conditions that would rouse our weaknesses and would attract all kinds of temptations. It tickles the flesh but numbs the spirit. We would become vulnerable to our weakness and the temptations.

We need to clarify this issue of our rest, and find practical and attractive ways to make the really good rest appreciated by all. As said earlier, our real rest may involve some sacrifice, but we have to reassure everyone that the dividends of such rest far outweigh the sacrifices that may be involved.

We need to sustain some kind of campaign in this regard, encouraging some people to be models and experts in showing and explaining what a really good rest is. Now that we are facing tremendous and complicated challenges in practically every aspect of our life, we really need to inculcate in everyone the true kind of rest.

Yes, to this end, there will be considerations about the virtues of order, sense of priority, prudence, and the practices of prayer, meditation and contemplation, as well as self-denial and a healthy spirit of mortification.

We have to find ways of how to relate the different kinds and forms of resting to the real rest that has Christ at the root, center and end. It’s a pity that we seem to have developed very sophisticated forms of physical, mental, emotional rest, etc., but fail to connect them to the real source and objective of rest.

Let’s hope that some people would dedicate time and energy in developing programs that would attend to these problems and deficiencies insofar as the really good rest is concerned.

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Charity is madness. There is no doubt about it. If we truly live the virtue of charity that reflects, echoes and replicates the love of God for us, we should be ready to fall into some madness. We have to be ready to be some kind of madmen.

This charity will surely overwhelm all our ideas of rationality, common sense, justice, etc. It would require us to go beyond our human powers and to allow the supernatural power of grace to take hold of us, leading us to where we rather would not go.

This phenomenon should not surprise us, because the charity that we talking about here is something supernatural. It will always involve some mysteries, some truths and ways that are beyond our comprehension. It will make possible what is impossible to us.

This charity cannot develop in us by using our human powers alone. But we have to be clear about a certain point. The supernatural character of charity does not do away with its natural and human aspect. In fact, it demands the full cooperation of our natural and human powers. What it does is to purify the natural and human, and to expand and elevate it to the level of God’s love.

Just consider again the description St. Paul made of this virtue. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Cor 13,4-7)

I wonder if we do not get some goose-bumps just going through those words. Are they practicable, we are likely to ask? Is this not some kind of madness? Who can really observe them?

Well, Christ did all this. He put these words into action, especially in his passion, death and resurrection. He even taught us to love our enemies, to offer the other cheek is we are slapped in one, and to go two miles if we are challenged to walk one mile.

We are taught to be magnanimous and merciful, always offering forgiveness to those who may have offended us. We are taught to be generous without counting the cost, since every good thing we have is freely given to us by God and therefore we ought to also freely give good things to others. We are taught not to be afraid to lose all our earthly treasures so we can gain the one that never fades.

This is the madness of love. Even in our human love affairs, we already show traces of these signs of madness. We are willing to make sacrifices for our loved ones. Mothers will never hesitate to clean up the mess of their babies. Fathers are willing to work long hours just to support the family. Lovers are willing to go to far distances just to be near their beloved.

Charity definitely breaks down our natural and human limitations to enable us to identify with our beloved who is ultimately God. But along the way, we have to learn how to live charity with the others who, in a manner of speaking, are our way of reaching God. As St. John said: “If we do not love people whom we see, how can we love God whom we cannot see?” (1 Jn 4,20)

There are times when we find loving God easier than loving people. We should bridge that gap. For loving God in theory, in intention and in some other spiritual operations would be proven false if it is not supported by loving people—and all kinds of people, including those who consider themselves our enemies.

The test of real charity is when we can manage to echo from our heart, one of Christ’s last words: “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they are doing.”