I Will Give You Rest
the light burden of discipleship
Dear Saints,
First, a few announcements:
Registration for Sunday Masses helps us limit attendance, but there has been more than enough space for people to show up unannounced. You can register for our Sunday Masses in the church here.
Our two 9:00am Sunday Masses are still on: a drive-in Mass (Walmart) and one in the church.
The weather looks good for Sunday's 11:00am Mass outside, in front of the church (bring your own chair or blanket, and even an umbrella for shade).
The Outside Confessional is now open on Saturdays only, 8:30-9:30am and 4:00-5:00pm.
Please be in touch with me with any questions or concerns.
This weekend’s Gospel passage contains some of the most comforting and encouraging words in all of Scripture. Jesus says:
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.
Okay. Let's slow down here.
When people ask me how I'm doing these days, my usual response is, "tired." I feel exhausted. Almost all the time. So let me ask you: How are you doing?
Take the time now (or very soon) to hear Jesus speak the words above to you. Read the lines with as much attention as you can muster. Repeat them until they reach your heart. "Come to me... "
We need to hear these words, my friends, especially if our experience of following Jesus doesn't quite line up with this reality.
Let me explain. Our lived experience of Christianity often overemphasizes our importance to the project: I believe what the Church teaches, I follow the rules, I say my prayers, and the like. If we find ourselves at the center of our own spiritual universe, we are going to feel overburdened by the task.
To the contrary, Christianity calls us out of the narrow confines of self-centered living. Jesus is - and I am not - the center of the universe. And the center of the universe, my friends, is LOVE. The center of the universe is MERCY.
We make this reality our own when we receive the undeserved love of God and bring it to life for the less-than deserving. We shed the burden of self-centered living when we encounter God's mercy and make his forgiving love the foundation of our life. We find abundant life when we follow Jesus - giving ourselves recklessly away in God's service for the good of the world - through death and out the other side.
This is easy-yoked and light-burdened living, my friends. I'm eager to walk this way with you.
Christ's Peace (and a Happy 4th!),
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus Mocked
Philippe de Champaigne, d. 1674