Parable and Conscience Meditation July 21

Community  July 21

Recreation must allow for a certain variety, and yet each person should have equal opportunities. . . . we must avoid the situation where some can do what they please . . . while others can only be passive onlookers (Const. 19.9).

God rested after work.  The six days of labor merited God the seventh day of rest.  Thus, God determined forever the sabbatical pattern for humanity:  a significant time of tiring work, followed by a brief time of refreshing rest.  The rhythm of work and rest structures life at every level in Crosier life:  religious observance, manual labor, study, apostolic life, etc.  Bodily rest, as well as that of the spirit, is necessary for the welfare of the human person.  Everybody has the right to rest and the obligation to look for ways to do that well.  It is the responsibility of the religious community to provide time and the necessary resources for its members’ relaxation in accord with their needs.  Spiritually, we are already at rest in Christ.  In effect, Christ himself is the Sabbath because of the labor of his Cross.  The Sabbath of Christ is the great festival of our human life, celebrated preeminently in the Liturgy.  The moments of human rest are small “sacraments” of this same Christian mystery.

He who beats the butter licks his fingers.  (The Reunion)