Meek And Humble Of Heart

July 19, 2018

Raise your hand if you understand weariness. Raise your hand if you’ve ever been so worn down, you can hardly remember your own name. Have you ever been so exhausted that your hair hurts? Weariness is more than just being tired; it is utter physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual depletion. We are just not ourselves when we are weary, labored, or burdened. Jesus shows us His sweet pastoral side in today’s gospel. "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,and I will give you rest.” For me I picture Jesus sitting on a shaded park bench and I show up all beaten down and spent, drowsy from dealing with the daily anxieties of life, heavy and laden with useless worry, desperate for relief from the anguish, and He pats the seat next to Him for me to sit. There are no words or deep conversations, just His empty lap for me to lie down and rest. He strokes my hurting weary hair, and He sings me a lullaby. Eventually, I fall into a deep sleep and when I wake, my tense shoulders feel squishy, my hair no longer throbs, my worries have faded, and I know that I am deeply loved. 

Jesus wants us to be our truest self because we were created in the pure and total love of His Father. The secret to becoming our truest self is given in today’s gospel if we are brave enough to trust in it, “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." Meekness and humility of heart is the key to lightening our loads and shedding our weariness. When we become docile to the love of our Father and allow Him to be God and Savior, lover of our souls, and center of our lives, then and only then will we ever be free of the burdens that weigh us down and tire us on the journey. Another word for meekness is peacefulness and I don’t know about you, but peace is the fruit of the Spirit that I cherish most because it allows me to stop fighting and to simply be. Simply being is resting and I love me some good and lasting rest these days. I spent so many years scurrying about like a squirrel collecting acorns for the winter, and not enough time sitting under a tree enjoying the summer. My life was about doing and not about being. 

Jesus wants us to rest today and enjoy our lightness. He will do all our heavy lifting if we simply come to Him with peaceful and gentle hearts. I will focus on the status of my heart as I pray throughout the day. Have a meek and humble day and it is well with my soul. 

Reading 1 IS 26:7-9, 12, 16-19

The way of the just is smooth;
the path of the just you make level.
Yes, for your way and your judgments, O LORD,
we look to you;
Your name and your title
are the desire of our souls.
My soul yearns for you in the night,
yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you;
When your judgment dawns upon the earth,
the world's inhabitants learn justice.
O LORD, you mete out peace to us,
for it is you who have accomplished all we have done.

O LORD, oppressed by your punishment,
we cried out in anguish under your chastising.
As a woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pains,
so were we in your presence, O LORD.
We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth to wind;
Salvation we have not achieved for the earth,
the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth.
But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise;
awake and sing, you who lie in the dust.
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the land of shades gives birth.

Responsorial Psalm PS 102:13-14AB AND 15, 16-18, 19-21

R. (20b) From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
You, O LORD, abide forever,
and your name through all generations.
You will arise and have mercy on Zion,
for it is time to pity her.
For her stones are dear to your servants,
and her dust moves them to pity. 
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer.
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
"The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die."
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.

Alleluia MT 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 11:28-30

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."