The Sabbath Rest

“So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2: 3)

In a recent small group Bible Study, my group discussed Genesis 1-3. We learned among other things that God blessed the 7th day and made it holy. On the seventh day, he rested from his labors in creating the world. On the sixth day of creation, he created man and woman in his image and likeness and gave them dominion over the earth. Man was commanded to keep the seventh day holy. Two days after the discussion, I got a great insight on the Sabbath rest and shared my insight with our study group in an email. Part of it is reproduced below:

“I thank you for your contribution to our group discussion last Thursday on the theme of the Sabbath Rest. You said something very profound. This is a paraphrase: The Sabbath Rest (Sunday) is a rehearsal for the Eternal Rest. During the 9 am Mass this morning at St. Thomas More, the Prayer of the Faithful went something like this:
“Let us pray for the dead that they have eternal rest after their labors.”
Immediately I heard that, your contribution jumped to my mind like a hot flying baseball. And I became greatly consoled by this truth.”