A man went for his annual physical. After a thorough examination, the doctor asked if his wife would be present to hear the results. The husband agreed. The doctor hardly began explaining the results when the woman started chatting about her ailments, her mother’s, their children’s and her neighbors. The doctor managed to squeeze in a few words about the husband’s overall good physical condition. Afterward, in a private meeting with the wife, the doctor advised her that her husband needed rest, relaxation and peace. He gave her sleeping pills as a suggestion. The wife asked when to give them to her husband. The doctor replied, “These sleeping pills are not for your husband. They are for you.”

This weekend’s Gospel is quite intriguing. Jesus invites people to come to him for rest and relaxation. The husband in today’s story is burdened by a noisy partner. In life, we all carry some form of burden. Jesus’ invitation is to set aside these burdens and embrace his way of life which is easy and light.

We are always seeking something in life. In a sense, God created us with a happiness hole in our hearts, a hole that only God can fill. Money, fame and power cannot fill this hole; only God himself can.

That’s why in the beginning of the Gospel, Jesus says, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have revealed to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned.” Jesus here refers to the secret to happiness. This secret is not found on a mountain peak, in the ground, in the sky or even on the Internet. It lies within each of us in the human heart, specifically in that happiness hole that I mentioned earlier.

Happiness resides in the human heart when it is filled with God. This happiness is precisely God himself, the one to whom we turn over all our cares and concerns. In a way, God made the human heart restless until we find Him. Our hearts will become even more restless when we try to fill our happiness hole with something other than God.

This weekend, we celebrate our nation and our great spirit of freedom. Unfortunately, as a country, we sometimes try to replace our “happiness hole” without including God. We were founded as a God-believing nation, but some would have us forget the God of our foundation and replace Him with mere mortals. St. Augustine said it plainly: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” That applies to each individual, but it also applies to our country.

This summer, we find rest and relaxation in our many family and community gatherings, especially in the many vacation spots in our country. May we remember, as individuals and as a nation, that we will not find true rest and relaxation until we rest in God.