Trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, Khi những bất hạnh ập đến như những con mưa dai dảng trong cuộc đời, nhiều khi không phải chỉ có một cái bất hạnh, nhưng nó cứ dồn dập đến với chúng ta hết cái bất hạnh này, đến cái khác. Khi một người trong gia đình đau ốm, nếu gia đình khá giả thì không sao, nếu gia đình nghèo một tí thì chúng ta lại phải đối đầu với một vấn đề khác đi theo đó là cái khó khăn tài chính. Đây không phải là một vấn đề dễ dàng cho chúng ta, vì gánh nặng đang đè tên đôi của gia đình, nay còn dè năng hơn nữa. Có lẽ, những lần như thế chúng ta đã thực sự muốn bỏ cuộc, muốn la hét và khóc xin với Thiên Chúa cho tất cả những vấn đề phức tạp này mau mau được kết thúc?
Mặt khác, khi phúc lành tuôn đổ đến với chúng ta, thì nhiều phúc lành khác cũng tiếp tục tuôn đến với chúng ta. Và chúng ta hãy cảm tạ Thiên Chúa cho tất cả những phúc lành Chúa ban.
Vâng, cuộc sống có những thăng trầm của nó. Khi cuộc đời chúng ta được may mắn, và cứ my mắn. Tất cả mọi thứ đi kèm đổ vào thêm, và chúng ta sống như thể nó sẽ không bao giờ kết thúc. Nhưng khi cuộc sống của chúng ta đang đi xuống, chúng ta có cảm thấy như chúng ta đang thực sự bị rơi vào chân không, chơi vơi như kẻ chết đuối. Nếu như không có hy vọng vào sự sống còn của chúng ta. Chúng tacó thể cảm thấy như chúng ta đang ở trong sự kết thúc của thế giới.
Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đã cho chúng ta niềm hy vọng. Ngài nói với chúng ta đến với Ngài, Ngài sẽ đổi mới và thêm sức mạnh cho chúng ta. Ngài nói với chúng ta "hãy gánh lấy cái ách của Ngài." Cái ách gì của Chúa Kitô mà Ngài nói là nhẹ nhàng, và êm ái?
Đó là làm theo ý muốn của Thiên Chúa trong cuộc sống của chúng ta.
Và ý muốn của Thiên Chúa nơi chúng ta là những gì?
Điều căn bản đầu tiên và quan trọng nhất là yêu mến Thiên Chúa, và yêu thương tha nhân như chúng ta yêu bản thân mình. Cụ thể, Thiên Chúa mời gọi chúng ta trở nên giống như Ngài, là vị tha, dám cho những cái tốt nhất của chúng ta cho người khác mà không cần dự dự. Chúng ta có thể làm điều này nếu chúng ta nhận ra được là Thiên Chúa đã yêu thương chúng ta bao nhiêu trong Chúa Giêsu Kitô, và Ngài vẫn còn tiếp tục yêu thương chúng ta bao nhiêu mỗi ngày!.
Hạnh phúc là khi chúng ta được làm việc cho Chúa, cho Chúa Giêsu, bởi vì chúng ta yêu mến Ngài. Đây chính là ơn gọi của mỗi người Kitô hữu chúng ta, là biết yêu thương như Chúa Giêsu yêu thương chúng ta. Quả thật, cái ách của Chúa êm ái, và cái gánh của Chúa thì êm ái và rất nhẹ nhàng.
"When it rains it pours." You must have heard this saying. A lot of people don't like the rain because it's wet, it's bothersome. It's difficult to commute when it rains because traffic is heavy. The feeling becomes worse when the rain is strong and continuous because the effect is flooding.
When misfortune strikes, it's not just one, but one after another. When someone in the family gets sick, another problem comes like financial difficulty. Then the house needs major repair, then… the list goes on and on. It's not easy and oftentimes we really want to just give up and scream and cry asking God when will all these problems end?
On the other hand, when blessings come our way, more blessings follow. It comes one after another as well. And we give thanks to God for all the blessings.
Yes, life has its ups and downs. When we are up, we are up. Everything comes pouring in, and we live as if it will never end. But when we are going down, it feels like we are really crashing and drowning as if there is no hope for our survival. It may feel like it is the end of the world.
In the Gospel, Jesus gives us hope. He tells us to come to him and he will refresh us. He tells us to "take his yoke." What is this yoke of Christ which he says is easy and light? It is to do the will of God in our lives. And what is God's will for us? It is basically to love God first and foremost, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Concretely, God invites us to be like him, to be unselfish, to give our best to others without reserve. We can do this if we realize how much God has loved us in Jesus Christ and how much He continues to love us every day. Happiness is in doing things for God, for Jesus, because we love Him. This is our vocation as Christians – to love as Jesus loved. Truly, his yoke is easy and his burden light.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
One of the most delightful and healthy activities in life is sleep. This is especially the case when one is able to enter into a deep and refreshing sleep. Upon awakening, the person who has slept deeply feels refreshed and ready for a new day. Of course, the opposite is also true. When sleep is difficult and restless, the person can suffer numerous ill effects, especially when a lack of healthy sleep becomes the norm.
The same is true in our spiritual lives. For many people, “spiritual rest” is something foreign to them. They may say a few prayers each week, attend Mass, or even make a holy hour. But unless each one of us enters into a form of prayer that is deep and transforming, we will not be able to experience the interior spiritual rest we need.
Jesus’ invitation in today’s Gospel to “Come to me…” is an invitation to become transformed, interiorly, as we allow Him to relieve us of the burdens of our daily lives. Each day we often face spiritual hardships and challenges, such as temptations, confusions, disappointments, angers and the like. We are often daily bombarded with the lies of the evil one, the hostility of a growing secularized culture and an assault on our senses through the numerous forms of media we daily digest. These and many other things we encounter each and every day will have the effect of wearing us down interiorly on a spiritual level. As a result, we need the spiritual refreshment that comes only from our Lord. We need the spiritual “sleep” that results from deep and revitalizing prayer. And that form of prayer is only possible if we heed Christ’s invitation to come to Him with every fiber of our being, surrendering all that we are and all that we encounter each and every day.
Reflect, today, upon whether you feel weary at times. Ponder, especially, any mental or emotional weariness. Oftentimes these forms of weariness are actually spiritual in nature and need a spiritual remedy. Seek the remedy our Lord offers you by accepting His invitation to come to Him, deeply in prayer, and rest in His presence. Doing so will help to lift the heavy burdens with which you struggle.
My loving Lord, I accept Your invitation to come to You and rest in Your glorious presence. Draw me in, dear Lord, to Your heart that is overflowing with grace and mercy. Draw me into Your presence so that I may rest in You and be delivered from the many burdens of life. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, my deepest desire is to enter into your divine rest. I will work my entire life in your vineyard to enjoy the rest of the eternal Sabbath. Grant me true humility to know who I truly am. Help me to grow as your child and the servant of my brothers and sisters.
1. The Lord is the Eternal God: The Gospel was chosen to bring out what Isaiah proclaims about God: God gives strength to the fainting (Isaiah 40:29). Isaiah proclaims that God, our all-knowing Creator, is all-powerful. No creature is equal to God in holiness, knowledge, or power. Isaiah asks a series of rhetorical questions that aim to strengthen the faith of God’s people and dispel their doubts about God’s intention to save them (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Isaiah, 71). In its original context, Isaiah provides words of encouragement to the exiles. While the exiles of Israel and Judah might be tempted to think that God has forgotten them, the truth is that they have forgotten God. They are reassured by Isaiah that God will humble the proud and the strong – the Babylonians and powerful of the earth – and give strength to the humble and meek – his people
Jesus carries our burdens with us
Jesus also says his "burden is light". There's a story of a man who once met a boy carrying a smaller crippled lad on his back. "That's a heavy load you are carrying there," exclaimed the man. "He ain't heavy; he's my brother!" responded the boy. No burden is too heavy when it's given in love and carried in love. When we yoke our lives with Jesus, he also carries our burdens with us and gives us his strength to follow in his way of love. Do you know the joy of resting in Jesus' presence and walking daily with him along the path he has for you?
In the Advent season we celebrate the coming of the Messiah King who ushers in the reign of God. The prophets foretold that the Messiah would establish God's kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy. Those who put their trust in God and in the coming of his kingdom receive the blessings of that kingdom - peace with God and strength for living his way of love, truth, and holiness (Isaiah 40). Jesus fulfills all the Messianic hopes and promises of God's kingdom. That is why he taught his disciples to pray, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). In his kingdom sins are not only forgiven but removed, and eternal life is poured out for all its citizens. This is not a political kingdom, but a spiritual one.
Freed from the burden of sin and guilt
The yoke of Christ's kingdom, his kingly rule and way of life, liberates us from the burden of guilt and disobedience. Only the Lord Jesus can lift the burden of sin and the weight of hopelessness from us. Jesus used the analogy of a yoke to explain how we can exchange the burden of sin and despair for a yoke of glory, freedom, and joy with him. The yoke which the Lord Jesus invites us to embrace is his way of power and freedom to live in love, peace, and joy as God's sons and daughters. Do you trust in God's love and truth and submit to his will for your life?
"Lord Jesus, inflame my heart with love for you and for your ways and help me to exchange the yoke of rebellion for the sweet yoke of submission to your holy and loving word. Set me free from the folly of my own sinful ignorance and rebellious pride that I may wholly desire what is good and in accord with your will."
The Israelites needed a wake-up call. Living in exile, surrounded by pagan gods, many of them began to think that Yahweh was just one among many deities. So while we may think that the prophet’s question is almost comical—of course God created everything—he was very serious. The people should never forget who God really is!
We may not be surrounded by pagan gods, but the daily grind of our busy schedules can certainly numb us to the astounding realities of who God is. We can become so used to the “concept of God” that we forget how real, how powerful, and how all-encompassing he is. In fact, many of us probably see a crucifix every day, whether at our homes or in church. But how often are we awestruck at God’s immensity? The maker of the universe is our friend! He who separated the heavens and the earth is our Father!
God is so much more than an abstract concept or a distant deity. The Israelites in exile faced the temptation to relegate God to the margins, considering him the “god” that their ancestors worshipped in Jerusalem. Some of them thought that the
Babylonian gods were better and were more suited to their situation. Don’t let that happen to you! Remember that the God we worship, the God of your ancestors, is a living, active, all-powerful God. He isn’t one viable option among many competitors. He is, and everything else comes from him.
As you pray today, let the reality of God, your heavenly Father, fill your imagination. Read today’s first reading aloud, slowly and prayerfully, and ask the Holy Spirit to amaze you with the immensity of who God is. Let this passage stretch your thoughts and give you a glimpse of the depth and breadth of the One who made you and who loves you. And then bow down before him. Worship him. Proclaim his greatness. As you do, you’ll find him drawing you into a deeper love for him and a greater surrender to his ways. His love for you will fan into flame your love for him!
“Almighty God, I bow before you. I can’t even begin to describe how amazing you are! All I can do is sit in awe and surrender my life to you.”
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