By Colleen O’Sullivan
Do you not know
or have you not heard? The Lord is the
eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond
scrutiny. He gives strength to the
fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound.
Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, They
that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’
wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)
Jesus said to
the crowds: “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.” (Matthew
11:28-30)
Piety
O Lord,
may I ever put my hope and trust in you.
May my heart always be open to receive you.
Study
Here we are in the second week of Advent, Christmas
not far away. You’d think everyone would
be in great spirits, but the truth is that at this time of year we often feel
as discouraged as the exiles Isaiah was addressing in our first reading. They felt forsaken, far from what had always
been home. Centuries later, we, too,
sometimes feel like God has forgotten about us.
The holidays can be difficult for those who are grieving the loss of
loved ones. Holidays also have a way of
putting the spotlight on family rifts. Those
without jobs worry about just putting food on the table and a roof over their
family’s heads, not to mention Christmas on top of that. You can fill in the
blank, but our troubles somehow seem magnified during this Christian season of
hope and expectation.
The good news is that while we may feel weak and
worn, our God never is. If we put our
hope in the Lord, we will receive sustenance.
Our problems will not magically vanish, but we will be given the inner
strength to keep on going. In the poetic
words of the prophet, we look forward to the day when, in the Lord, we will run
and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.
Jesus also speaks a word of encouragement to the
troubled. He doesn’t promise to take
away our cares; he promises to carry them with us. If we just come to him, he will be our
companion on the journey. We will never
walk alone or have to carry our burdens by ourselves. We have a faithful God
who loves us and wants to help us every step of the way.
Action
As you are praying today, reflect on and give
thanks for the times in your life when Jesus has helped carry your load.
Christ asks us to be his eyes, his hands and feet
in the world today. Look around. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding
someone who could use a friend right now.
If no individual comes to mind, check with your parish office. Maybe there’s a child or a family who didn’t
get adopted for Christmas. Maybe there’s
a need for food for Christmas dinners or people to deliver gifts and food to
those in need. There’s no end to the
things you could do to be someone’s Christian companion.
No comments:
Post a Comment