THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Thursday of Week 15^th week in the Ordinary time, 2022

Isa 26:7-9.12.16-19

Ps 102

Matt 11:28-30

I will give you rest...

Dear friends in Christ, after the work of creation, was completed, God rested and the day of that rest became for his people a day of rest too from all their labors. In fact, in the time of Moses, it became compulsory and coded. The sabbath is a day on which not just humans but even the animals used for work are to rest. The land too must rest after six years of cultivation. In creating the lights, God also separated the day from the night thereby making the nighttime with less visibility a time of rest for human beings to rejuvenate their bodies and minds for the new day. Rest is therefore a gift of God to his creatures. At the end of life, we hope to rest eternally in God. Only God can thus give rest to anyone.

Our first reading today (Isaiah 26:7-9.12.16-19) looks more like a psalm but it expresses the struggle of the human soul, "My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you...O Lord in distress they sought you, they poured out a prayer when your chastening was upon them. Like a woman with child, who writhes and cries out in pangs when she is near her time, so were we because of you, O Lord; we were with child, we writhed, but we gave birth only to wind." As humans, we yearn and long for the supernatural, for something superior. According to Augustine, our souls are restless till they find rest in God. For as Isaiah puts it, human efforts yield nothing except by grace--we were with child, we writhed but gave birth to the wind. 

Today's gospel (Matthew 11:28-30) tells us that Jesus came to change all of that. He is the only one who is capable of giving real rest to our souls. Psalm 23 tells us, "The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want; fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose, near restful waters he leads me to revive my drooping spirit." The Lord appears therefore to give that rest to his followers. "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Who does not need rest? Consider a man who wakes up very early to wade through the traffic daily to work and returns late at night. He struggles just to make ends meet and support his family. What of many who have to do the heavy work in the burden of the day's sun without anything to show for all their efforts? Jesus calls, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me..." As a carpenter in Joseph's workshop, he knows what it means to make yokes and some have suggested he was an expert in yoke making but his yokes were comfortable on the animals that had to use them for tilling and transportation. The yoke makes a team of animals used to work, they pull together and their joint efforts make the job easier. The law could make things difficult, life itself is a challenge that requires so much of each one if we want to survive and succeed. Jesus however says he is here to offer us the rest that is needed. Trust in him.

Let us pray: My soul is longing for your peace Lord, help me with your grace to find peace in your love. Amen. 

+Remain blessed