Camino: December 7th

Feast of St Ambrose:

There is no doubt that we have been overburdened during the difficult experiences of lives: from economic meltdown to a global pandemic: we have been scared, frightened, challenged, and reflective. It has brought out the best in us, but, for many, a lot of stress too.

In Matthew’s Gospel today, Jesus urges his followers to ‘come to me all you who labour and over-burdened, and I will give you rest….I am gentle….you will find rest’ (Mt 11: 28-29). Even in the best of times, we will find ourselves doing too much; we are all guilty of being ‘too active’ following the ‘Martha school’ rather than the ‘Mary school’! Jesus wants us to be involved as fully as we can in apostolic ministry, but not at the expense of our well-being. The danger is that we feel that we must be so ‘committed’ to the Gospel that it leads to burnout and health breakdown. We all need to place our troubles and worries with the Lord an adopt the attitude and prayer of ‘we can do this together, Lord.’

In his recent encyclical letter, Pope Francis urges us all to support each other: the pandemic has proved that we can only get through difficult situations by working TOGETHER. We all need a sense of ‘shalom’ or inner peace and today we are reminded to find that quiet space (even if it is in our mind) and look for your needed rest time today.

The saint of today, fourth century, Ambrose shows that all problems can be overcome. As a committed lay Christian, he wanted to support the Church in Milan that was experiencing all kinds of difficulties. The people wanted him as their Bishop—however, there was slight problem: he was not baptised! Within a week, he was baptised, ordained a priest and installed as Bishop of Milan on 7th December 374. There is no problem that cannot be faced once we have that love of God.

Today:  find time for YOURSELF, even if it is just five minutes and treat yourself to a favourite drink or treat-you deserve it.