Rest and Receive

One week into social distancing and I got the bright idea to potty train the two year old. I figured, hey, if we can’t leave the house, we may as well get her out of diapers, right? Now we are one week into potty training and we have realized that the gratification of being out of diapers is not instantaneous. It’s a lot of work and rather exhausting getting there. But it is important to note the power of one chocolate chip. It is enough to lure a toddler to do almost anything, including pee on a potty. Two chocolate chips still isn’t enough to lure this toddler to do her other business though, so I’m accepting tips and tricks if you have them!

I’m not sure what your reality has been since the outbreak of COVID-19. I’m sure it runs the gamut, noisy, fighting kids, desperately trying to complete your own online schoolwork, or possibly it has been a more quiet, lonely and monastic experience with no children at home. Regardless of your circumstances, this strange upheaval of ordinary life into lockdowns and quarantines and sheltering in place leave us a unique opportunity to rest and receive. I’m not sure we’ll ever see another abrupt cessation of nearly every aspect of life. And I know I don’t want to miss the graces this present moment contains, despite its difficulty and frustrating nature. 

Resting in Him

Above my fireplace mantel is this image of Mary holding baby Jesus. It’s so beautiful. And as I sit here reflecting on so many things going on in the world today, I couldn’t help but turn my thoughts to Mary. She certainly had a life full of suffering, a betrothal and an unplanned pregnancy (Lk 1:26-38), a promise that a sword would pierce her heart (2:35),  a child lost for three days(2:41-52), and the witnessing of the suffering and death of her only Son, Jesus (Jn 19:25-27). 

Despite the suffering, I can still imagine that her life was also full of peace and joy. I would imagine she had those quiet moments where the two year old Jesus sat on her lap and she could ponder so many things in her heart. When she received from God, she always kept those things in and on her heart, even when they were difficult or required a great deal of self denial – a pruning if you will. She was close to Jesus, physically and spiritually, and I’m sure she didn’t waste a single moment of that time. She could simultaneously suffer and be full of peace and joy because she knew what it meant to rest in and receive from him. 

We are very actively being pruned right now (Jn 15:1-5), there is no avoiding it. But this reveals our great need to stay attached to the vine, Jesus himself.  It seems like a tall order especially when the sacraments are not easy to come by, the doors of churches are locked, and perhaps you feel like sheep without a shepherd. But with all the extras stripped away, we do have the opportunity to rest in Jesus. We must rest in him in prayer, firmly attached to the vine our source of life.  

Receiving Him

It is through this resting in Jesus that we find life and peace and joy and union with him. I know not everyone’s reality right now is quiet and peaceful, but it does have fewer external distractions. No sports, show choir, events, meetings, travel, etc. There is time in the evening to pray, to share a meal, play a game, have a conversation, and to draw our families deeper into this important reality of staying connected to the vine. 

It’s beautiful and good to miss the mass and Eucharist – I know I do. But because we don’t have the opportunity for those things is no excuse to let our life of prayer and faith fall to the wayside. We can still rest in and receive from Jesus. We must take the longing in our hearts to allow him to come to us in that longing and deeply trust his promise that he would never abandon us! (Mt 28:20).  It doesn’t necessarily come easily or without effort, but if we are intentional with our lives, it can produce such great fruit in our hearts and overflow to those around us.

Tips and Ideas

If you need tips, ideas, or thoughts on how to persevere through this time, whether that be your family with children, your family without children, or perhaps living alone, I have created a list. If you have other tips or ideas that have been especially fruitful for you, please post them in the comments.

• Create a prayer space at home. I have found this hugely important to keeping a routine of prayer, especially as I had my first child and didn’t have the freedom to stop by the chapel whenever I felt like it. Let the children help out. Add a crucifix, some images or statues, candles, flowers, holy water, etc. Use that space for prayer. Do a rosary there. If you have children, take the whole family there to pray in the evening or in the morning. 
• Continue your life of prayer. Cling to the scriptures, it’s the true presence of God too! If you need extra tools to guide you, check out these resources: Ignatian Prayer and Lectio Divina
• If you kept a holy hour of Eucharistic Adoration at a local chapel that is no longer open, keep your holy hour. Use the time in the same way you would have at the chapel. You could use the structure suggested in this post on Eucharistic Adoration.  This is a great chance to use your new prayer space.
• Pray a decade of the rosary, or  a whole rosary if you feel ready. Do it in your new prayer space.
• Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet together. This one only take about 7 minutes and is a very powerful prayer prayed on rosary beads.
• Have a silent hour in the evening, no screens allowed. Reading only. Even better, make it spiritual reading.  This is a great opportunity to rest and receive.
• Have dedicated family time each night, it could even be at dinner. Have each family member share a high, low, and God moment from the day.
• Pray out loud for one another. Yes, impromptu prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you and speak his words through you. You could even do this after sharing high, low, and God moments, as it’ll give you some obvious areas where your family might need some extra love and prayers.
• Once the kids go to bed, pray. Enjoy silence. Break open the scriptures, read, and reflect.

I pray that in this time, you may rest and receive and thus find a deeper union with Jesus than you thought possible, which leads to deep peace and joy in him.