“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Today’s First Reading is very short—so short it could be easy to dismiss or overlook. This would be unfortunate because it has much to do with all of your problems going away. God is aware of everything. He’s God. While you and I know this, sometimes we don’t believe it. There are moments when God seems disconnected, like we’re a cake in the oven and he forgot to come back and check on us. There are moments or even years of our lives when we feel like we’re on an island and nothing is going right and there is no relief from our struggles.
Big or small, we all have burdens. It could be waking up one morning to find your car won’t start. For some people it’s learning that a loved one has cancer. Anything that steals our peace is a burden. I’m sure plenty of people were burdened by this 2020 election season. Because of original sin, burdens happen. It’s a part of being human.
Satan wants us to feel isolated and abandoned. He wants us to get swept away by our problems and consumed by despair and hopelessness. He wants us to blame God for our burdens.
But here’s the wonderful news: God allows our burdens as an opportunity to approach him. A burden is an invitation to Trust in Him. When God became man and experienced suffering, he took on the ultimate burden: the weight of our sins and the sins of all of humanity.
The Mercy of our God is not comprehendible. He loves us so much. God wants our burdens. When we stop fighting to do it ourselves, that’s when God takes over. This doesn’t mean our problems magically go away as soon as we enter a Church. It means that as we begin to deepen our relationship with Christ and truly approach him, the weight of our own crosses begins to seem insignificant. “Jesus, I trust in You.”
Trust in God’s love and mercy.
Realize each burden is an opportunity to deepen your Trust in Jesus.
Understand even the smallest struggle can be given to God.
Make a Morning Offering each day as a reminder to give God everything.
Pray for the Grace to submit to God’s Divine Will.
Patrick produces YouTube content for young Catholics on Catholic Late Night and Overt TV. He loves using humor to share the Truth of the Catholic faith with anyone who will listen. He resides currently in Chattanooga, TN and is a parishioner at The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Patrick graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in Communication Arts and a Minor in Marketing.
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