“…a pause for true worship has greater value and spiritual fruit than the most intense activity, were it apostolic activity itself. This is the most urgent “contestation” that Religious must oppose to a society in which efficiency has become an idol…” (Pope John Paul II)
Meals need to be cooked, clothes need to be folded, the grass needs to be cut, diapers need to be changed, kids need to be taken places, groceries need to be bought, bills need to be paid, emails need to be answered, things need to get done! But in the midst of this chaotic, and at times frenetic activity, we also need to squeeze out some quality time for God. Just before I began writing this email, I encountered a lady in the hallway of our retreat center in Annapolis and asked “Can I help you?” She responded, “No, Father,…I just came here to pray in the chapel.” She stayed a good 30 minutes, kneeling in the front pew close to the tabernacle, and then she drove off to prepare dinner and be with her family again.
In one of his books, the French-Canadian Catholic businessman Jean-Robert Ouimet writes about conversations he had with Mother Teresa. She once told him that, given the workload and the nature of the work, the burnout rate within her congregation was quite hight. She tried decreasing the their working hours only to realize that with one hour of meditation per day, burnout was no longer a problem.