THE BURDEN OF GRACE AND LOVE.

-

July 9, 2023.
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – A.

Readings: Zec 9:9-10; Ps 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14; Rom8:9, 11-13; Mt 11:25-30.

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

A Moroccan proverb says: “The weight of the burden is known only by him who carries it.” And a Kenya proverb adds: “A heavy burden does not kill on the day it is carried.”

There are times in life when life itself becomes too tough. There are moments we do not know what to do to hold on to life. Things start becoming so hard. In those moments, some people find refuge in vices and addictions. Some others see no other option than to give up, to literally quit, or to commit suicide.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of addiction grew vertiginously. Many people, because of being jobless or confined at home, threw themselves into sexual abuse, pornography, and many other immoralities related to sex. Some others find their refuge in alcoholism and drugs. The most regrettable is the increased number of suicides. Many people found no reason to live. So, death became the only option that was left to them.

Besides all these negative and dark drawings, some other people gave themselves one of the greatest reasons for life, that is, to find refuge in God. Though churches were closed, online religiosity and virtual community gathering busted. Every parish has activated a social media and Facebook page and holds liturgical service for the thirsty and suffering flock. Because we realize there was nowhere, we could go, but to God.

Here, the call of our Lord Jesus, in today's Gospel, finds all its meaning and strength: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest...”

When life becomes restless and burdensome, our only option and solution must be to run to the Lord. With him, we learn the greatest values we really need for a peaceful and trouble-free life, meekness, simplicity, and humility. The Lord is always eager to unload all our burdens through his grace and his unending love. While he takes away our pains, he loads us with love and many blessings.

In the first reading, the suffering people of God are invited to rejoice for their king, their liberator is coming. And the Prophet Zechariah gives the attributes and apparatus of this coming king: "a just savior, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass..." His mission, banish all forms of oppression and bring peace to his people.

This prophetic vision finds its fulfillment in Jesus, the per excellence King of kings, the perfect expression of humility, the Prince of Peace.

This Jesus, in the Gospel of today, giving thanks to God for the successful apostolic mission of his disciples, reveals another pang of his identity. "I am meek and humble of heart." In the Gospels, but also the whole Scriptures, every time the Lord uses the "I AM", he is saying something deep about himself and leading us to an Epiphany. Our God, our Lord is an "I AM" to save and comfort us. He makes himself humble, meek, and simple, sharing in our humanity to take upon himself our yokes and burdens and invites us to take his that is light and easy.

We are given here to see that we can only know the Father through the Son. And in this process of Epiphany, the Lord invites the weary and burdened to find their rest in him.

Knowing who is our God sets our hearts and minds at peace, for, we know to whom to run for consolation and comfort. Jesus says: “Come to me..." This sounds very assuring and releasing.

Somewhere in the Gospel of John, after Jesus spoke to the people about the bread of life, and made the great claim and revelation of himself saying, "I am the bread of life..." the crowd stopped following him. Many departed from him. There, turning to his Disciples, the Lord got a beautiful answer from Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life..." Jn 6:68-69. To whom shall we go for solace, peace, and life if not to him?

We can get to know the Lord and run to him only through humility and by the work of the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit dwelling in us, we have come to know the Lord. We thus must live no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit. Learning the great virtue of humility.

The friends of God, those who are dear to Christ and for who he gives up everything joyfully are the poor, the humble, the marginalized, and the forsaken of our societies. If we wish to be counted among Jesus' friends, we should learn from his humility and simplicity of life. For, he says in the Beatitudes, the poor and simple are blessed and to them belongs the Kingdom of God. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ASSUMPTION OF MARY, BEYOND THE DOGMA.

-
Image
August 15, 2020 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Readings:  Rev 12:1-6a, 10ab;  Ps 45: 10, 11, 12, 16;  1 Cor 15:20-27;  Lk 1:39-58. A Romanian proverb says, “Honor is the reward of virtue.” And a Japanese proverb adds, “The consequence is the reward of the cause.” Beyond the dogmatic definitions and declarations, all the Marian solemnities and devotions are but, an act of gratefulness and thanksgiving our humanity raises to God. For, in his great power and omniscience, he chose to become one of us, and he did it through a humble virgin whom he has elected to be his Mother. Mary is one of us. She is the instrument God was please, in all his creation, to hand-pick to contribute in his mystery of Incarnation and Salvation. We cannot separate Jesus from Mary. We cannot speak of Jesus as known through the Holy Scriptures without mention Mary his Mother. Some people try hard to eclipse Mary from the Lord's mysteries of the life, and mission....
Read more

GOD OF EVERLASTING MERCY.

-
Image
April 7, 2024. Second Sunday of Easter - Sunday of Divine Mercy – B. Readings: Acts 4:32-35; Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; 1 Jn5:1-6; Jn 20:19-31. "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." Jn 20:23 A Chinese proverb says: “The Buddha has mercy even on the meanest thing.” A Filipino proverb adds: “Mercy resides in God; deeds are in men.” At Easter, what we really celebrate is a regeneration, a new birth, and a new opportunity offered to sinners. The Lord, by dying on the Cross, took away our evilness and made us new creatures. This newness opens us to new life. We are given to rediscover our original beauty that we lost in sin. It is a journey of purification that finds its origin in God's everlasting and always renewed love. We are celebrating today, the second Sunday of Easter, the Divine Mercy Sunday. Our opening prayer already gives the tune of our celebration: "God of everlasting mercy, who in...
Read more

MARRIAGE, A NOBLE VOCATION.

-
Image
October 6, 2024. Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – B. Readings: Gn 2:18-24; Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6; Heb 2:9-11; Mk10:2-16 or 10:2-12. “If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is brought to perfection in us.” 1 Jn 4:12 A Romanian proverb says: “Love is blind, but marriage finds a cure.” A German proverb adds: “Marriage is the opposite of a fever attack; it begins very hot and ends very cold.” Marriage is a noble divine institution. It is the surgent of the society, of life, and so, of any other calling. Through the marital union of husbands and wives, a new life originated opening to a new vocation. Without doubt, after the Holy Eucharist, the Matrimonial Union is the nobless of all Sacraments. It even has greater value in terms of impact on social life than the Sacramental Order of the Presbytery. In the Diocese of Lucena, while celebrating the 74th Foundation Anniversary, this year is dedicated to vocation. In the prayer for the year of vocations, we rea...
Read more