Resting in God’s presence

I was listening the other day to an interview with Bishop Michael Pham of the Diocese of San Diego on Fr. James Martin SJ's excellent podcast, The Spiritual Life.  Bishop Pham was born in Vietnam and fled the country as a child after the communist takeover in 1975. His family endured a horrendous journey involving overcrowded boats, hunger, separation from family members and time spent in a refugee camp in Malaysia before eventually reaching the United States. Today, Bishop Pham is active in advocating for migrants and refugees. He has accompanied migrants through the legal system and spoken publicly about their God-given dignity.

He has accompanied migrants through the legal system and spoke out publicly about the dignity of migrants.

As is his custom at each interview, Fr Martin asked him how he approaches prayer. The bishop said that he specially values time spent in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament where he rests in the presence of the Eucharistic Lord. It reminded me of the words of Psalm 131:

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me.  But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.  O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and for evermore.

Sometimes we are prone to unnecessarily complicate the spiritual life. We do not so much reach out to the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament as He reaches out to us where we are now.  In the Blessed Sacrament we discover that even our reaching out to the Lord is already a response to His prior invitation and grace.  We should be particularly attentive to Christ's presence with us after receiving Holy Communion and in the hours and days that follow. Having received the Eucharistic Lord, we become living tabernacles of His presence, despite our unworthiness and solely through His grace.

We can rest ourselves in His gentle gaze and presence.  It is written in Isaiah 30:15:

In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.