Where
do you find life burdensome today?
If we stop to reflect in this time
before Christmas, we may answer this question with a number of concerns: concerns about how much there is to get done
and so little time, struggles in our family, personal worry about a family
member or friend, sadness over the loss of someone dear, concerns over health
for ourselves or a loved one, yearning for reconciliation with someone we love,
pleading for freedom from addiction for ourselves or another.
Jesus
says, “Come to me…and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
These words are more than nice;
moreover, they deeply challenge us.
These words speak the deep truth of this Advent message of what His
coming fully means.
Take some time today to pray with
what you find burdensome. Often we will
pray with the deep, personal concerns that we have mentioned already, and as we
pray to God with these concerns, a deeper, “spiritual pain” can surface for us. Most often, we carry in our hearts some
attitude of disbelief of the reality of the truth of the Incarnation. Sure, we know that Christ has redeemed the
world, but in the midst of our very personal struggles and pains, we often
subtly think that somehow we—of ourselves—have to make it better. Often there is a deeper pain in our hearts
that has taken on a false burden of needing to make something happen. We can take on too much responsibility
instead of placing the responsibility on God; we can feel that, “If I don’t do it,
who will?” instead of asking God to do it; we can feel that we have to earn
God’s love or get it right so that He will love us; we can feel that “I’m not
enough” and so we always have to try extra hard; we can become so good at
managing our lives that we fail to be honest with ourselves and God; we can
become so concerned about what others think that we fail to listen to what God
wants. We take on false burdens. The voices and the attitudes are unique to
each of us, but the reality is true for all of us. We believe that Jesus has come to set us
free—and we don’t believe it completely.
“Take
my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of
heart.” (Matthew 11:29)
Jesus’ emphasis is on gentleness and
humility. He asks us to assume, as He
did, the posture of a child, to come to Him with all of our burdens and to
place them all on Him. Ask Him if you
have taken on any false burdens. Don’t
try to figure it out on your own. He
will reveal it to you in gentleness.
Through the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation or the
placing of this burden on the altar to be transformed, you and I become
transformed and are freed from the heavy burden.
“Your
souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:30)
THIS is the truth of the Christmas
message: that Jesus has come into our deeply personal struggles and pains to
relieve us, to set us free, and to bring us and those we love to fullness of
Life with Him—forever! Now that’s Good
News!
We are halfway through the Second
Week of Advent. On Sunday we lit the second candle on the Advent wreath, the
candle focused on love. This week, let us focus on the love God has for us, the
love he shares with us, and ask that that through his love, we will rest in him
and our burdens will be light.
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Thanks to all who have been saying the novena to St. Peregrine with me this last week for my neighbor Darlene. We're still waiting to hear the results of the surgery today. Wednesday is the last day of the novena. DON'T STOP PRAYING!
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