“Come to Me….” – Matthew 11:28

“If you completely give of yourself physically, you become exhausted. But when you give of yourself spiritually, you get more strength.”

I think I know why Oswald Chambers said that. One of the most fulfilling times in my life is when I would run encounter groups… connecting emotionally and spiritually with broken people like me, people who least know that it is intimacy with God that beckons. They can sense their need for Him, but clouded by concerns about family and work and even vocation, they fail to identify what they are really hungry for.

I experience deep joy when participants of these sessions brighten up with the realization of what they really want. And I am conscious that it is the Spirit of the Lord moving… connecting… and eventually resting in our hearts and minds as we find Him and embrace Him and carry Him with us when we wrap up our sessions and return to our “back home” situation.

In spite of a hectic schedule these encounter weekends usually are on, I always feel energized afterwards. Even in my role as facilitator, I experienced with them the fruits of the spiritual encounter. Cristy G.

REFLECTION:

Do you nourish others’ spirits?

Strengthen me with more than physical strength. Equip me with the energy to spiritually nourish others.

Exodus 3:11-20

God reveals His name to Moses, a name destined never to be uttered by the Jews out of respect for its holiness. Whenever the Jews come across the word for YHWH in their Scriptures they always substitute “The Lord” for it. Even some Christian scholars do the same out of respect for the Jewish faith. However, as Christians we believe that one of the results of salvation is that we have come to know God in a new way that allows us to use His name.

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 He  answered, “I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of Egypt, you will worship on this very mountain. 13 “But,” said Moses to God, “when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” 14 God replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites I AM sent me to you.” 15 God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. ‘This is my name forever; this is my title for all generations.’ 16 Go and assemble the elders of the Israelites, and tell them The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me and said I am concerned about you and about the way you are being treated in Egypt; 17 so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey. 18 Thus they will heed your message. Then you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent us word. Permit us, then, to go a three days’ journey in the desert, that we may offer sacrifice to the LORD, our God. 19 Yet I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless he is forced. 20 I will stretch out my hand, therefore, and smite Egypt by doing all kinds of wondrous deeds there. After that he will send you away.”

Psalm 105:1, 5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27

R: The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

1 Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name; make known among the nations his deeds. 5 Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought, his portents, and the judgments he has uttered. (R) 8 He remembers forever his covenant which he made binding for a thousand generations — 9 which he entered into with Abraham and by his oath to Isaac. (R) 24 He greatly increased his people and made them stronger their foes, 25 whose hearts he changed, so that they hated his people, and dealt deceitfully with his servants. (R) 26 He sent Moses his servant; Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27 They wrought his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. (R)

G O S P E L

Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus tells us the yoke he offers is light and easy to bear, unlike the one of the Pharisees derived from a misinterpretation or misapplication of the Law. It is important for us to know that God does not want our faith to be a burden to us – it ought to be something that gives life and not trouble or depression. Let us open our hearts to Jesus and embrace the call He places upon our lives because we can be sure that it is the way of life for us.

28 “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

my reflections

think: God does not want our faith to be a burden to us

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

God’s special verse/thought for me today________________

_________________________________________________________

T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST

Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________

_______________________________________________________

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Isaiah 19-22

Continuing yesterday’s Gospel passage, these verses today complete the message. Who can ever resist such a kindhearted invitation from Jesus? He beckons us to come to him, we indeed who “are weary and find life burdensome.” Furthermore, He instructs us to take His yoke upon our shoulders, and learn from Him. The prize for all this is, quite simply, a consoling rest.

Nil Guillemette’s explanation for this is both instructive and insightful: “The gentle yoke of Christ refers to the demands of Christian faith, of Christian duty: practicing the evangelical ethics of the Sermon on the Mount, faithfully obeying the decisions of the Church, accepting sickness and old age and death. This burden, far from weighing us down, gives our life its true meaning. Like the wings of a bird, our burden carries us whereas we thought we were carrying it” (A Kingdom for All ).

St. Augustine put it in another way: “Where there is love, there is no toil; or if there is toil, the toil is loved.” And so we ask, how “heavy” is the Faith for us now?

We have reason to wonder in case it is so. Perhaps we haven’t yet heeded Jesus’ invitation to us. What are we waiting for, then? Fr. Martin M.

REFLECTION QUESTION: How “heavy” is the Faith for us now?

Thank You for the rest You provide.

Sts. Justa &Rufina, virgins and martyrs, pray for us.