July 20, 2017
St. Apollinaris
Dear Family of Mary!
Gospel Mt (11:28-30)
“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.”
This Gospel is one of my very favorite Scriptures. Jesus knows the anxiety and trouble that fills the hearts of men. He sees our toil in a harsh environment. He sees the weight of sin which bares down on their daily lives, making every relationship difficult, every task complicated. He understands our confusion and guilt, our burdened souls.
And so He calls us, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest.” The rest the Jesus can give us is real. He can show us the way out of all those difficulties and lift from our shoulders the burdens we carry. He can forgive our sins, and turn our hearts towards true peace. Our Lady spoke to us about this in this message:
July 25, 2008 “Dear children! At this time when you are thinking of physical rest, I call you to conversion. Pray and work so that your heart yearns for God the Creator who is the true rest of your soul and your body. May He reveal His face to you and may He give you His peace. I am with you and intercede before God for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
God the Creator is the only one who can give us true rest. He alone knows what ails us, and what we need. Conversion is the way we “come” to Jesus. Turning from our own plans and ways and choosing to follow the Lord is the way to come to Jesus.
It is beautiful to think that it is in Jesus’ face that we will find peace, find rest. Coming to Jesus and looking into His eyes of love, we find all that we will ever need. All our labor and worry ends in the face of Jesus.
If we surrender our lives to Jesus, we will be taking on His yoke. We will be pairing ourselves with Jesus in his two-man yoke. Jesus will be walking right beside us, pulling the burden of our life with us, and showing us the way to proceed. He will gently guide each one of us with His yoke into the path that leads to peace, to salvation. That yoke will be for us salvation.
We will be walking with a meek and humble partner, who will not break a bruised reed. We will have nothing to fear in His presence, nothing to hide. With Jesus, we will be secure and filled with hope. Truly the burden will be light, the yoke, easy.
There is only hope with Jesus. We have the strength to take another step, live another day, because He is by our side, teaching us the way of peace. Our Lady is with us to help. Thank you Lord, for calling us to come to You!
Cathy Nolan
© Mary TV 2017
