Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
“In his first coming, our Lord came in our flesh and in our weakness; in this middle coming, He comes in Spirit and power; in the final coming He will be seen in glory and majesty…
In the first, Christ was our Redemption; in the last, He will appear as our Life; in this middle coming, He is our Rest and Consolation.”
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) in Advent 5 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 320.
Bernard sketches with remarkable simplicity the generous gifts from our Lord in His first coming, second coming, and what we experience in the middle.
As I take this week off, I am thankful that Jesus is our Rest and Consolation. He richly and generously supplies what we need in service to Him.
That He is our rest means that He restores us from our labor. And that He is our consolation means that He comforts us and cares for our needs.
If you have not taken a break lately, perhaps plan one. I am learning to rest if even just for a few days each quarter of the year.
We have a saying at GTP. We go slow to go fast. I pray this break this week helps restore my physical body and renew my spirit. Praying this for you too when you take your next break.
And Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom, my wife, and my daughter in law! I pray today your day is a day when you experience Jesus as our Rest and Consolation.
I pray this for all Mothers reading this too. Make it so, Lord Jesus.