Talk

Our Word for today which will be accompanied by lots of verses later on is from Mark 6:31:

Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.

Jesus Himself rested. He even tells His busy disciples to rest.

We’re now in Talk 3 of this powerful series. We’ve learned that secular work can be sacred. Whatever you’re doing– you’re a teacher, a doctor, a politician, a cook, a chef, a baker– what you do is your worship to the Lord.

But to walk with God, you need two feet — the right foot of work and the left foot of rest.

You’ll learn throughout the talk that resting is actually trusting in the Lord.

Because God invites us to enter into this holy rhythm of work and rest. Without rest, even godly work will damage us and even damage others

We’re always in a hurry.

It seems like we’re in an ambulance. If we’re always in a hurry, we can hurt ourselves and hurt others

Let’s talk about the culture–and sickness– of always being in a hurry. Matthew 4:1– another verse we’ll stand on for this Talk:

Before Jesus started His three-year ministry of preaching, healing, and performing miracles, the Spirit led Him to the wilderness.

In Greek, wilderness means eremos.

For this talk, we’ll choose the term, quiet place. Why?

Because we meet God in our quiet place. That’s our big message today.

Put your hands close to your heart and pray this with me:

“Today, I will meet God in my quiet place. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Let’s sing to the Word of the Lord:

Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet And a Light unto my path.

Come with Me

More verses about Jesus Himself resting.

Hey, the Son of God resting.

Luke 5:16 says:

There were incidents in Jesus’ life when

He needed to rest. Can you imagine giving a talk to 5,000 to 10,000 people? That can be draining. And then feeding them and then healing them.

Just ask a priest how he feels after a long day of hearing Confession. Jesus, at this time, as man, was drained and was tired. What would He do?

He would go out and rest.

But what kind of rest? Think about it. If Jesus, the Son of God, needed a quiet place, how can we even think we can live without it? Jesus knew how to rest, how to retreat. We, too, need to do that.

That’s why I read in advance Mark 6:31:

This is Jesus inviting the apostles and inviting you.

Jesus saying, “Come with me” is very crucial. Why?

Because He wants you to rest but not just by yourself– but with Him.

There’s nothing wrong if your way of resting is watching Netflix, or talking, laughing with your friends. But it’s not enough.

Sometimes it’s not just our body that gets tired. Our mind gets tired too.

When our mind is tired, our heart can feel tired too.

All the more you will be tired if your spirit gets tired.

There is this saying: “When the well becomes dry, our spirit can be drained.”

We were warned to not quench the spirit as it’ll dry up. There’s a difference between isolation and solitude.

“Come with me.” It’s being alone with God. It’s solitude alone with God.

Jesus saying, “Come with me” connotes a rest with Him. It’s the difference between isolation of being alone or even being with a crowd. Have you experienced being with lots of people and still feeling alone?

We have normalized hurry. We’ve been doing two or three tasks in one time.

We even have a term for it: “multi-tasking.”

But multi-tasking never meant doing several tasks at the same time. It only means you can do a lot one task at a time.

Signs

This talk is for me as well. I am doing two or more tasks at the same time.

One time, I typed on my phone a text for my wife, setting a date with her, ending my message with “Love you.” Almost at the same time, I typed a text to my boss about our meeting– a trip to Cebu. I sent both messages right away…Whoa! The one for my wife went to my boss, and the one for my boss to my wife. My wife was happy we’re going to Cebu. My boss wondered why I love him!

That’s why, Fr. Jerry Orbos said: “Wherever you are, be there.”

We have become divided persons. We’re always hurrying. Whenever we are at work, we think of home. But whenever we’re at home, we think of work.

That’s why, beware of the 8 Symptoms of the Hurry Sickness. I made a checklist to see if I have those symptoms. My score was perfect– I have those 8 symptoms!

Here are the eight signs you’re afflicted with the Hurry Sickness:

• Irritability and hypersensitivity: You get hurt or annoyed too easily. You are always in a hurry– when somebody blocks your way, you get
• Workaholism: You don’t know when to stop Who among you is uncomfortable if you’re not doing anything? You work when you’re on vacation. So, when you go back to work, you need to go on vacation.
• Restlessness: When you have time to stop working, you cannot No.1: You always need to look at your phone. The moment you wake up, instead of praying, you check what’s on your phone. So, I suggest: Put your phone on your altar, and bow to itJ.
• Emotional Numbness: You cannot feel other people’s We don’t have time for loved ones.
• Escapist Overeating, binge watching, porn, etc. Let’s move from monkey-mind (jumping over various concerns) to monk-mind — calm.
• Isolation– from others, God, and You are with friends, but you’re talking with others on your phone.
• Disconnected from your Calling and
• Lack Healthy Habits– sleep, nutritious food, exercise.

Time Out!

The Hurry Sickness is worse than the Coronavirus Disease. COVID killed millions. The Hurry Sickness kills billions.

Why? It’s killing our life. We’re too busy. That’s why we tell Feast Builders to make time for relaxing meals with their families, have deep conversations with friends, and create relaxing moments with God.

As it is said in Mark 6:36

In God’s Kingdom, what is the highest value? Answer: Love.

Jesus Himself said Love is the greatest commandment. But what is love?

Yesterday, I was honored by our friends from Bacolod. I spent two days with them even if I was busy. And they appreciated that. They said that in Bacolod, they spell love as T-I-M-E. Love is time. You consume time. You spend time.

When you’re patient, you spend time.

You don’t hurry. We are always told to walk with God and not run with God.

God walks slowly because He is Love. You can never win the race against time. Time will always be ahead of us.

Look at my children. They used to be kids. Now, they’ve grown. Time has flown. I’m thankful that I was able to witness their milestones in life. Time flies fast. It’s hard to catch up. Sometimes, I see people doing deeds for their loved ones once they are dead already. They should have done it when their loved ones were still alive.

Why Do We Hurry?

That’s why you can never say “no.” You’re spreading yourself too thinly.

You believe that you are the only one who can do something. But that’s not true. We will all die and once we die, the world will be back to business as usual.

I pray for those who would like to work abroad but I also tell them to set a deadline.

It’s not bad to work for more and dream big. But put a ceiling until when.

We often tell ourselves that we do not have the time but we do have time. You just have to choose where to use your time.

The problem isn’t business. It’s being busy with the wrong things.

Life is a process of accumulation and elimination. When you’re young, you do a lot of things but as you get older, you lessen your activities and focus on what truly matters. What is the one thing that God really wants you to do up to the last day of your life?

Make the best use of the time. At the start of each year, our calendar is already full. But Bro. Bo taught the Feast Builders that the first that we should schedule on our calendar is our date time with our wives, children, and friends. If you can put meetings at work in your calendar, our dates with family and friends should also be on our calendar. There is no time? We have to make time

Setting a time to pause–whether you like it or not. It’s called Sabbath. That is why you’re here at The Feast today. The root of all pathological busyness in the end is lack of trust in God. We do everything because we fear that no one else will do it. We forget that there is someone who can do other things for us.

True Rest Is Trusting God

Nature is amazing. It tells us what to do. There is day and there is night. Why? The answer is simple. When it’s daytime, you work. When it’s nighttime, you rest.

You can only do so much.

I love St. Joseph. He is known as St. Joseph, The Worker.

But in recent times, he’s also known as Sleeping St. Joseph.

But God blesses him when he works and when he sleeps. When he sleeps, that’s where he tells God: “Lord, I’m going to do my best but I will rest because You will do the rest.”

When he sleeps, that’s when God talks to him.

When I got sick, I did everything I could to be healed. But I was still dying.

But obviously, I didn’t die. I got healed. How? I got healed when I didn’t do anything anymore. Initially, I did everything but I wasn’t healing.

So, I told God: “Lord, I did everything already. I surrender to You.”

It’s only in God that you surrender and then you win. When you’ve done everything, you rest because God will do the rest. From there, you will meet God in your quiet place.

Let me pray with you and pray for you.

Father in Heaven, we thank You for the gift of work where we are blessed to bless others. We thank You for the gift of rest where we are restored, recharged, renewed, and where we listen to you more. Grant us the grace to practice this sacred rhythm of work and rest in our homes, with our families, in our workplace, in our jobs, and in our businesses so that this rhythm rubs on to our health life, to our service life, to our spiritual life, especially with our relationship with You and with one another.

Dear Lord, grant us the grace to trust in You.

As we declare: “Jesus, I trust in You. I surrender to You. I will give my best and trust that You will do the rest. In Your Name, we pray, we proclaim. Amen.

This story was first published in the Feast Family Online News Magazine
Published by THE FEAST (July 6, 2025)