Stress! There is much of it in our world and in our lives today. From aggressive driving to navigating construction zones or from election-year political antics to outrageous, blasphemous, Olympic Opening Ceremonies, ours is an undeniably stress-filled world. Parish life too, can be filled with stress. Believe me! They say that it is not a good thing health-wise. It can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, anxiety, sleep deprivation, panic attack, headache, and all kinds of heartache emotionally and spiritually. Yet, we encounter it every day it seems, from the moment that we awaken. Everyone and everything seems rushed. Life is more complicated than ever. Technology was supposed to make our lives simpler with more time for leisure. Ha! Instead, we have our heads down while staring at our phones with the expectation and, for so many, the need to be available 24/7. I remember having a phone conversation with a priest friend. At one point in our conversation, I heard some noise in the background. It was the toilet flushing. There is a reason it’s called a “rest” room. My goodness, give it a rest and call me back for crying out loud! In the Incarnation, God Himself, experiences the stress of our human condition. Imagine how that first cry of the Infant Savior newly born must have reverberated unto the heavenly realm. Angels most certainly wept. The stress we experience in our lives is a stress known to Our Lord. Perhaps, we encounter that Messianic Stress most poignantly as we recall a Savior in a garden praying intensely prior to His Passion with sweat as droplets of blood running down Most His Holy Face. Can we bring Him comfort as we seek our own? Come away by yourselves and rest for a while; come to me all you who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest. The Lord already knows every stressor that we have in our lives. We might say that on Good Friday in Christ crucified, stress too was crucified. The Cross was as a pair of scissors cutting all tension releasing stress and leading to relief – the Ultimate Relief of Resurrection. We need to comfort Him in the Garden and on the Cross, because that is exactly where we will find the rest and relief that we so desire. It is there that the Lord will transform and relieve all our stress enabling us to take our foot off the gas, slow down, and relax while rooting for our Church and Team USA!
Peace!
Fr. Wilson