The Burdens of Life

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

~~~ Zechariah 9:9-10 ~~~ Psalm 145 ~~~ 

~~~ Romans 8:9, 11-13 ~~~ Matthew 11:25-30 ~~~

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am meek and humble of heart;

and you will find rest for yourselves. 

For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

There are a few scripture passages

 that most people either know or at least recognize; 

today we hear one of those.

What are your 'heavy burdens'...

are they physical...are they mental...emotional...

or are they spiritual?

We each have some sort of burden.

 Jesus invites us to surrender it to him.

Why is this such a difficult concept to grasp?

Are we just too hard headed and stubborn

to let go of our burdens?

Are we afraid that God will let us down?

Sometimes our burdens make us want to crumble

 to the ground in a tangled heap.

God reaches out to us.

He says you are not alone.

He says I am here to help lighten the load.

He says let me be the one who relieves your pain.

...the one who raised Christ from the dead

will give life to your mortal bodies also,

through his Spirit that dwells in you.

It is this very Spirit that comes to give us rest...

this very Spirit that will carry our burdens.

The meek and humble of heart...the little ones;

they know God will be there to carry their burdens.

The little ones admit that they cannot

carry their burdens alone.

If we trust in the Lord 

it is through grace that we can 

surrender our burdens to him.

Come to the Lord.

He will give you rest.

~~~Peace~~~

I Will Give You Rest

~~~ Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin ~~~

~~~ Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19 ~~~ Psalm 102 ~~~ Matthew 11:28-30 ~~~

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,

and I will give you rest...

We often find ourselves overwhelmed by the simple word 'yes'.

We don't realize how many commitments we have 

made until we feel over extended. 

In our endeavor to please others, we say 'yes'.

In our desire to do more for others, we say 'yes'.

In our mistaken self worth, we say 'yes'.

Today Jesus invites us to bring those feelings to him.

He is the one who will give us more clarity.

He is the one who will bring peace to our 

soul with each new endeavor.

Come to me...

Jesus will give you rest.

Jesus will help you arrange your life in the proper order.

Jesus will guide you to the best times to say 'yes'.

We can only find rest in the Lord.

Which means first we must turn toward him.

Jesus knows what is in our heart.

...I will give you rest...

Jesus knows how to give us true rest...

rest from our weary soul searching...

rest from our frustrations...

rest from our fears and anxieties.

...learn from me,

for I am meek and humble of heart...

Learn from Jesus, nothing is too small...

nothing too great to bring before him.

It is best to put our selfishness aside.

We are not self sufficient.

We cannot solve all of the problems

 of the world single-handedly.

Coming to the Lord means we trust

 in his intervention.

Coming to the Lord means we believe

 he will show us the way.

Coming to the Lord means admitting

 that we need him every day of our lives.

Jesus gives us rest because he is willing to take all of our burdens.

He is near enough to make a difference in your life.

He desires for you to bring him all 

of your burdens...trials...fears...and anxieties.

You are not alone in this world.

Talk with Jesus...he cares so much for you.

He does not expect you to carry your burdens alone.

Perhaps he has chosen someone to represent him in your life...

someone who can help you carry your burdens.

If today you feel the call to help another person.

Just maybe God is using you to lighten their burden.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, 

the first Native American to be canonized, pray for us.

Blessings to release our burdens to the Lord.

~~~Rest in his Peace~~~

Accept the Invitation

Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

~~~Exodus 3:13-20 ~~~ Psalm 105 ~~~ Matthew 11:28-30 ~~~

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,

and I will give you rest.

This verse is frequently used as a retreat theme.

It is a verse that offers us great comfort.

Jesus invites us to come to him when we are worn down...

heavily laden with our problems.

He promises to give rest to all who come to him.

It is an invitation from the lips of Jesus directed to your heart.

The words of Jesus are pure, sincere and true.

During the conversation Moses had with God

God identified himself as...

 “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel:

I AM sent me to you.”

God uses the pronoun 'I' and the present tense 'AM'.

Normally this is the beginning of a sentence 

that one completes telling more about oneself.

God simply states it as who he is...

nothing more need be added.

God is the present...

when we bring our weary spirit to him he takes it 

upon himself each time we come to him.

There is no past or future in God...

there is only the present.

God is the "I AM"

for all ages far all peoples.

Jesus also speaks in 'I Am' statements.

I Am...

you can easily finish this sentence.

Later Jesus will ask Peter...

who do you say that 'I Am?'

Jesus invites you to bring your burdens to him.

He is with you now.

His presence is as real today as it was 

when he spoke to Moses from the burning bush. 

Come to Him

and let Him give you rest.

Blessings in resting with God.

~~~Peace~~~

Our Lady of Mount Carmel,

pray for us.

Let Him Help You

~~~ Isaiah 40:25-31 ~~~ Psalm 103 ~~~ Matthew 11:28-30 ~~~

O bless the Lord, my soul!

This is the time of year when we have so many reasons
 to remember all the ways God has blessed our soul.

Jesus said to the crowds:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest. 
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves. 
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Mary went into labor and God the father was present
 to help give her courage and strength.
Jesus is calling to us to come to him when we are burdened
with the trials and tribulations of life.

Jesus is not too proud to take on our burdens.
We need to trust that when we release our burdens to him
he will indeed take care of them for us.

If you find it challenging to give your worries to God
make the intention to give ten or fifteen minutes.
Enjoy a few minutes each day when you
do not carry your burdens.
This time of freedom and trust will bring renewal to your soul.

If we let God take our burdens for a little while
we will be better able to pick them up again.
If we let God take our burdens when we pick them up
he will have resolved some of our fears.

We are Blessed to have a God that never leaves
 us to fend for ourselves.

Peace
your burdens are lighter.

Come to Me...

~~~ Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ~~~

~~~ Deuteronomy 7:6-11 ~~~ Psalm 103 ~~~ 1 John 4:7-16 ~~~ 

~~~ Matthew 11:25-30 ~~~

...the LORD set his heart on you and chose you...
God wants to shower you with his blessings.
We have wedding showers to honor and give gifts to the engaged couple.
We have baby showers to give gifts to the unborn child.

...because the LORD loved you...
God loves us so much he wants to shower us with
a continual outpouring of blessings.
The Lord loves us so much that he gives us his heart
 and we take it for granted.
We might even expect him to love us no matter what we do.

God is love, and whoever remains in love
remains in God and God in him.
God does love us unconditionally,
but we must chose to remain in his love...
we must chose to remain in him.
God knows nothing else besides love, even when he is passing judgement.
He loves in mercy, he loves in justice, he loves in forgiveness,
he loves in joy peace and happiness.
There is no time when God is not loving you.

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest..."

God's loving heart invites us to come away with him.
His love can give us the rest our soul searches for.
We each have our burdens to bear and God knows this;
 he also knows that if we bring our burdens to him
he can make them seem lighter.
The perception of our burdens will make them weigh less.
If our burdens are less cumbersome we can get more rest.

Bless the LORD, O my soul; and forget not all his benefits.

Jesus is reaching out his hand to you.
Can you picture this image?
It is real. He does not want you to suffer, especially
if there is no need for it.

Jesus says...
Come to me...and I will give you rest.
Not someone else, but Jesus himself will give
you the rest you need.

The Lord set his heart on you
 and showers you with blessings of rest.

~~~Peace~~~

What Do You Yearn For?

~~~ Isaiah 26: 7-9, 12, 16-19 ~~~ Psalm 102 ~~~ Matthew 11: 28-30 ~~~

"...My soul yearns for you in the night,
yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you...

it is you who have accomplished all we have done..."

The excerpts from the prophet Isaiah are saturated with love

and humility for the Lord.

When was the last time you can say you honestly 'yearned' for anything?

Here is how yearn is defined.

1. To have a strong, often melancholy desire.

2. To feel deep pity, sympathy, or tenderness.

It does seem that we are more inclined to have more noticeable yearnings

under the cover of darkness.

When nightfall comes the busyness of the day subsides.

We no longer have the daytime distractions that mask our yearning hearts.

The darkness and quiet of the night deprives us of a full sensory experience.

Darkness brings a particular kind of blindness. A temporary blindness.

A blindness we can terminate with a flip of a switch.

Just maybe it is easier to yearn for God because of this temporary

sensory deprivation.

When you physically cannot see you have the chance

 to join with the spirit that resides within.

When you take the time to go inside and inventory your life

you may discover an obvious truth.

All and anything that you have or will accomplish in your life

 is because of God.

In the darkness of night you are able to see who really

deserves the credit in your life...God of course.

Jesus said:
"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Jesus always has an open door policy.

When he invites us to come to him he is sincere.

He has no ulterior motive.

He will never use the high pressure approach.

He will never use the 'bait and switch' tactics.

Do you yearn for meekness and humility of heart?

Do you yearn for peace of heart?

Maybe you just yearn for the 'good ole days'.

Ideally you yearn for something that raises your spirit to a higher level.

By design we are searching and yes yearning for something

more in our lives. We are making selections for our life

based on what is missing...

or at least what we percieve to be absent from our life.

Jesus invites us to come and rest with him.

As St. Peter says, "Cast your cares on him, because he cares for you."

When the darkness of night falls around you, accept his invitation...

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.

If we have everything what is there left to yearn?

Yearning resides within the voids.

"...for you my body yearns; for you my soul thirsts...

So I look to you in the sanctuary

to see your power and glory.

For your love is better than life

my lips offer you worship."

Psalm 63: 2-4