14th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 - "I will give you rest"

 

The Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper wrote a little book called Leisure: The Basis of Culture. His argument is that authentic leisure and rest are vitally important for human flourishing and for our souls. Authentic leisure is not wasting time, nor is it the same as entertainment. True leisure is taking the time to delight in what is good, true, and beautiful, which involves worship and contemplation. And without that kind of rest, human culture begins to collapse, because man forgets that he is made for something more than the earth, is more than a worker or consumer.

Pieper’s insights are important as culture is quickly losing sight of the spiritual needs of our human nature—how to rest well—how to rest in God. We fill what should be restful refreshing moments with noise, scrolling, videos, emails, sports, worries, and distractions. We fail to allow ourselves the rest we need for our bodies and minds and souls.

And so the words of our Blessed Lord Jesus in today’s Gospel are inviting, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” But they are also challenging: don’t go to those million and one artificial substitutes: “come to me” that you may rest well.

This theme of rightly ordered rest runs through the Scriptures from the very beginning. In the book of Genesis, after the six days of creation, what does God do? God rested on the seventh day. Now of course, God did not rest because he was tired. God does not get exhausted. Rather, God’s rest consisted in beholding and delighting in the goodness of his creation and inviting us into that life-giving delight. God shows us how to rest well—to rest well, is to participate in the Godly.

Now, of course, we humans do need rest. As Jesus says in Mark’s Gospel, “The sabbath was made for man” We do get exhausted. We need time for what truly refreshes—worship, communion with God--for a healthy physical, emotional, and spiritual life.

That is why the Third Commandment tells us to keep holy the Sabbath day. For Christians, the Lord’s Day is Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, and Sunday rest is not merely “time off” or a day to catch up on chores. The Lord’s Day has a revitalizing purpose when it is rightly ordered, to God—a peace that the world cannot give.

At Sunday Mass, we stop producing, achieving, managing, and controlling. We come before the Lord and receive what we need. We receive his Word. We receive his mercy. We receive the Body and Blood of Christ. We receive again the truth of who we are: beloved sons and daughters of the Father, redeemed by Christ, temples of the Holy Spirit, made for eternal life.

And yes of course, you can fulfill your obligation to participate at Mass on Saturday evening, but Sunday still needs to be a day of sabbath rest. And we certainly need restful refreshing prayer on a daily basis, too, and to limit the activity, outside of work, that does not refresh us.

That hour of doom scrolling through social media leaves us more drained than before. Three, four hours on the couch in front of the television leaves us empty. All of that media aimed at creating anxiety: no wonder why we are not at peace.

This does not mean every form of recreation is bad. Recreation is good when it truly re-creates us: a walk in nature, a meal with family, wholesome conversation, music, reading, exercise, art, laughter with friend. But when entertainment becomes addiction, when technology steals silence, when the screen becomes the first thing we see in the morning and the last thing we see at night—our leisure time becomes disordered.

A very practical spiritual discipline as technology becomes more prevalent, is to spiritually fast from it, for the few hours we have before bed. Refrain from screen time an hour or two before bed. Not because technology is evil, but because the soul needs silence. The soul needs space to breathe. The soul needs moments when it is not being provoked, stimulated, or sold something. We sleep better when we take a break. And of course that frees us for the prayer we need in the evening.

In the second reading today, St. Paul says in the second reading speaks of our “mortal bodies.” We are not angels. We are embodied creatures. Our bodies get tired. Our minds grow weary. Our emotions become strained, and our limits are real.

But St. Paul also says that the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, and that God will give life to our mortal bodies through his Spirit. But, attending to our spiritual needs, requires effort. Allowing the Spirit to fill us with life means turning away from the distractions of the world, in order to engage intentionally in the works of the spirit.

Today, the Lord invites us to examine how we use our time. Do I give my body the rest it needs, or do I treat my body like a machine? Do I give my soul silence, or do I fill every moment with noise? Do I rest in God, or do I only distract myself from my burdens with technology, excessive alcohol or other addictions. Do I make intentionally effort to align my mind, and heart, words and actions, to the life giving Spirit.

Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves”. Life-giving rest is found, not in having nothing to do, but putting on the meek and humble heart of Jesus, allowing him to reorder our lives. A yoke is an instrument of work, but Christ’s work brings us refreshment and peace.

Today, on this the Lord’s Day, our work is divine worship, offering ourselves in union with Christ as living sacrifices to the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. May this act of divine worship refresh us in our weariness, heal us in our brokenness, lift us up in our burdens, strengthen us for the work of the upcoming week, and provide a foretaste of the joy and peace of heaven for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.