1st Week of Ordinary Time 2023 - Friday - Strive to enter God's rest

 

The letter to the Hebrews today quotes a very important Psalm—the 95th Psalm.  Psalm 95 is prayed daily at the very beginning of the Liturgy of the Hours in what is called the invitatory prayer. A line from Psalm 95 is written above the sanctuary in the old lower church here at St. Ignatius: come let us adore and worship. 

Consider, the Church begins every day contemplating this Psalm. And what a Psalm it is, for it contains so many themes and lessons vital to the spiritual life: the importance of coming before God to worship, of singing God praises and giving thanks for the beauty of creation and God’s governance over it. It contains a warning of not hardening our hearts against God’s commandments, so that, as we heard quoted today, we may finally, at the end of our long journey, come to enter into God’s rest.

Remember, the original audience of the letter to the Hebrews were to those early Jewish converts to Christianity who were experiencing persecution, enduring hardship for the Gospel. And so the sacred author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95 to them, and to the Church of all ages, to encourage us to not to grow weary in our witness to Jesus, to not harden our hearts to the Gospel when things get difficult. Rather, we are to strive, to work hard, be zealous, be eager, to be diligent, to enter into God’s rest.

The attainment of our eternal destination is to be our highest priority. “Seek first the kingdom of God,” says the Lord. And this means overcoming the opposition we face to that goal: resisting temptations, turning to the Lord to carry us through times of trepidation and human weakness, learning to detach ourselves from earthly distractions, prioritizing the spiritual over the physical—zealously, eagerly, with haste, striving for the kingdom with assurance of the rest and the reward which awaits those who persevere.

In the Gospel, we have the powerful example of the group of four men striving to bring their friend near to Jesus to be healed. They go above and beyond what many would consider normal conventions to bring their friend to Jesus—they climb a roof, and lower their friend through the ceiling, to get him to Jesus. Striving to bring souls close to Jesus is part of our mission, and that not only requires zeal, eagerness, diligence and effort, it often requires us to work together, as members of the Church, to bring lost souls, sick souls, paralyzed souls, deluded souls to Jesus. 

May the Holy Spirit enliven us and give us strength and enthusiasm for our mission, in striving to enter into God’s rest through a life well-lived in diligent and zealous service of the Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - -  

To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief.

For ourselves and our own community, that the Lord may graciously receive us as a sacrifice acceptable to himself.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.