We admire the foliage and flowers of the tree and we look forward to its fruit, but there are also the roots from which the tree draws life. And so it is with each one of us. We are called to give, to love, to serve, to create relationships of brotherhood, to work towards building a more just world. But the roots are necessary, that is, the interior life of union with God, our personal rapport of love with him which motivates and nurtures the life of brotherly communion and our commitment in society.
It is equally true that love towards others in turn nurtures love for God and makes it more lively and concrete, just as it is true that light and warmth, through the leaves, reinforce the roots. Love of God and love of neighbor are expressions of the same love. The interior life and the exterior life are rooted in each other.
Nevertheless, the Word of Life chosen for this month invites us to cultivate with special care our interior life, especially through meditation, solitude, silence, so as to go in depth with our personal relationship with God. To us too Jesus repeats what he said one day to his disciples seeing that they were tired for having generously given themselves to others:

«Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while»

Jesus himself occasionally took a break from his many activities. There were the sick to heal, crowds to instruct and feed, sinners to convert, the poor to help and console, the disciples to guide… And yet, even though everyone was looking for him, he would withdraw from the populated areas into the mountains to be alone with his Father (See Mk 1:35; Lk 5:16). It was like returning home. In his personal and silent colloquy he found the words he would then say to his people (see Jn 8:26), he better understood his mission, he regained strength to face the new day. He wants us to do the same:

«Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while»

It’s not easy to stop. At times we are taken up by the frenzy of work and activities, as in a mechanism that has gone out of control. Society often dictates a frenetic pace of life: produce more and more, advance in your career, excel… It’s not easy to face solitude and silence outside and inside of ourselves; and yet, these are the necessary conditions for listening to God’s voice, for measuring our life against his word, for cultivating and deepening our rapport of love with him. Without this inner lymph we risk aimless activity and our hustle and bustle can remain fruitless.
There is a need then for a period, even brief, of physical and mental rest also in order to avoid stress. At times it might seem to be a waste of time, and yet, in this case too we must trust Jesus’ invitation:

«Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while»

Jesus brings his disciples away by themselves so that they can stay with him and in him find rest: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest… and you will find rest for your selves” (Mt 11:28-29). The best rest is that in which we take time to “stay” with Jesus, to live in grace, in love, allowing ourselves to be shaped and guided by his words.
Especially before prayer, the privileged moment for “staying with him”, it is good to detach ourselves from everything, to rest a little, to collect our thoughts, to enter into the secret and silence of our inner room (see Mt 6:6). We shouldn’t count the amount of time we spend on prayer. In this case, the more we spend the more we gain. It will be like plunging ourselves into union with God where we will find peace. In this way we will reach an uninterrupted colloquy with him, a constant meditation, beyond the time set aside for prayer. I had this experience many years ago.
I wrote:

“… Lord,
I hold You in my heart,
the Treasure that must inspire my every move.
Follow me, watch over me,
Yours is my loving – rejoicing and suffering.
Let no one catch a sigh.
Hidden in Your tabernacle I live,
I work for everyone.
The touch of my hand is Yours,
Yours alone is the tone of my voice…”

Even when it is not possible for us to get away from the noise and turmoil of the world around us, we can go deep into our heart and search for God. He is always there. At times, it is enough to say: “It’s for you, Jesus”, before each activity or a meeting. This too is a way of withdrawing, of going off on our own so as to give to everything a supernatural motivation and intonation. We should also offer him every suffering, big or small.
Our communion with him will be perfected. Also our physical condition will derive benefit; we will return to our activity with new strength and we will make a greater effort to love.

Chiara Lubich