The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 11:28

In today’s gospel passage, Jesus reaches out to people who are weary of life and who find it a grind. Do you not feel like this sometimes? Are life’s problems consuming you? Do you feel like you are being drained of energy, of spirit and of love in your efforts to survive in today’s world?

Some time ago, one of the viewers of my blog wrote that she felt drained trying to keep the commandments by pleasing her husband and her children the way a good Christian mother should, and that going to church on Sunday did not make her feel any better. She wrote. “I sit in the pew and feel that I am not much more than a bench warmer.”

In today’s gospel, the Lord wants to rescue us from these feelings of being overpowered by the anxieties of life, even when we are in church, even when we are praying. Have you ever noticed when you try to pray in silence, that distractions and cares of the world well up in your soul, making it difficult for your soul to be at ease? This is natural for we are only human and we cannot separate ourselves from the preoccupations of daily living. The Lord wants you to put your trust in Him, to lay aside your worries and to let Him “refresh” your soul.

It is not easy to acquire this disposition that is detached from the cares of the world. The Lord calls it a yoke. “Take my yoke upon your shoulders, for I am gentle and humble of heart”, He says. We need to free ourselves from the burdens and pressures of life; we need to wrest ourselves from the grip of worldly concerns, and accept the challenge of rejecting material attachments so that our souls may find rest.

Remember the story in the gospels when Jesus was visiting the home of Martha and Mary? Martha was preoccupied with her work while Mary was quietly enjoying the Lord’s company. Martha, the busy-body, criticized Mary, but Jesus said: “Mary has chosen the better part.”

The problem today is that people are choosing work and money over being, which is the better part. That is why there is so much unrest in today’s world. Difficult as it is, you need to find quiet time to be with the Lord; you need to find time to rest your souls from the affairs of the world. If you can do this, you will be blest:
“Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light, says the Lord.”

Fr. Hugh Duffy

* * * DO NOT MISS TOMORROW’S BLOG ON SABBATH * * *