DAILY MEDITATION: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest”

Liturgical day: Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (A)

Gospel text (Mt 11,25-30): At that time Jesus exclaimed: "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

"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."

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

Fr. Antoni DEULOFEU i González
(Barcelona, Spain)

Today when we find ourselves weary from the daily grind—because we all carry heavy burdens that can sometimes be hard to bear—let's think of these words of Jesus: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11, 28). Let's rest in Him, who is the only one that can ease all of our concerns, and thus find the peace and love that the world doesn't always provide.

Truly human rest requires a dose of 'contemplation'. If we raise our eyes to heaven and pray with our hearts, and if we are humble, we will surely find and see God, for He is there; "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth" Mt 11, 25. But He is not only there, we can also find Him in the 'easy yoke' of everyday little things: in the smile of a small child full of innocence, in the grateful gaze of a sick person we've visited, in the eyes of a poor person asking for our kindness and assistance…

Let's let our entire being rest, and completely entrust ourselves to God who is our only salvation and the salvation of the world. As Saint John Paul II recommended, for true rest, we need to “…cast a gaze full of joyous delight [at a job well done]. This is a ‘contemplative’ gaze which does not look to new accomplishments but enjoys the beauty of what has already been achieved” in the presence of God. Moreover, we should express gratitude to Him: Everything comes from the Most High and, without Him, we could do nothing (cf Jn 15, 5).

Indeed, one of the current major dangers is that “Ours is a time of continual movement which often leads to restlessness, with the risk of ‘doing for the sake of doing.’ We must resist this temptation by trying ‘to be’ before trying ‘to do’” (Saint John Paul II). Because, in reality, as Jesus tells us, there is only one necessary thing (cf. Lk 10, 42): “Take my yoke upon you… and you will find rest for your selves” (Mt 11, 29).

Source: evangeli.net