Find Rest

July 17, 2008

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise; awake and sing, you who lie in the dust. For your dew is a dew of light, and the land of shades gives birth. Isaiah 26:19

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light. Matthew 11:29-30

Piety

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me; you restore my strength. You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name. Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side; your rod and staff give me courage. You set a table before me as my enemies watch; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and love will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/071708.shtml

In the rosary and other prayers, we often ask that "we be made worthy of the promises of Christ." What exactly are the promises of Christ? Today's Scripture introduces us to one of those promises – "I will give you rest" – and offers us a chance to ponder what this promise means for us.

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Isaiah 26:18

Are you burdened? What burdens you? Bills? Demands at work? Deadlines at school? Family illness? Separation from those you love? Jesus understands our burdens because he lived a life like ours. Rather than focus on the burden or wallow in it, he says to ask for help. Turn to Jesus. Follow him. Let him take care of the burden. Only then will you find rest.

What else do we get in return for such relief? For what are we trading in our burdens? If we give these burdens up to Jesus, he will replace them with his requirements and his next promise – My yoke is easy, and my burden light. Jesus offers to us the yoke that comes from following him in obedience and humility. So rather than an oppressive yoke, trade it in for a yoke of love.

This promise reminds me of one of those popular e-mail messages going around. (I have reprinted it below. Please note that you don't have to send this to 20 friends to get the blessing. God loves you unconditionally whether you forward His e-mails or not).

MEMO

To: YOU

Date: TODAY

From: GOD

Subject: YOURSELF

Reference: LIFE

This is God. Today I will be handling ALL of your problems for you. I do NOT need your help. So, have a nice day.

P.S. And, remember... If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do NOT attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.

Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now.

If you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world who never have the privilege of driving. They walk everywhere. Some never travel more than two hundred miles from their birthplace in their whole life.

Should you have a bad day at work; think of the person who has been out of work for years or who never had a job.

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.

Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; remember, things could be worse. You could be one of them!

Should you decide to send this to a friend; Thank you. You may have touched their life in ways you will never know! Now, you have a nice day.

God

God has seen you struggling, God says it's over. A blessing is coming your way.

Action

When you think about burdens, developing countries around the world are strapped with one of the most significant burdens possible…debt to international monetary institutions. So rather than use precious resources to help their population overcome obstacles, far too much money is spent servicing debt to these institutions.

This week, the Catholic bishops put out a call for people to contact Senators to urge support for the Jubilee Act to Relieve the Debt of Poor Countries. In the spirit of today's Gospel, please consider contacting your Senators and asking for their support of this bill. Here is the text from the USCCB e-mail:

REASON FOR THIS ALERT: Late last month the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations passed the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2008(S. 2166) with bipartisan support. The House of Representatives had previously passed a similar bill. The next step is for the full Senate to consider the bill. Since the fall session of the Senate is expected to be very short because of the upcoming Presidential and Congressional elections, the best—and probably the only—opportunity for getting the bill passed this year would be during the next four weeks, i.e., before the Congress begins its late summer recess.

BACKGROUND: While major progress has been made in reducing poor country debt, a substantial number of the poorest countries continue to shoulder heavy debt burdens that draw precious government resources away from critical investments in health care, education, water and other sectors necessary to improve lives. Many poor countries have seen their debts reduced through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative that was adopted in 1996 and expanded in 1999 in response to successful advocacy by the global Jubilee 2000 movement, in which the Catholic Church played a major role. In the succeeding years, it became apparent that further efforts were required, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) continued its advocacy. USCCB strongly supported the new debt relief program called the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) that was approved under U.S. leadership in 2005. This provided major new debt cancellation for HIPC countries. Nevertheless, more than twenty very poor countries still are unable to benefit from HIPC or MDRI debt relief.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

· If your Senators are not already cosponsors of the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2007 (S. 2166), urge them (1) to become cosponsors today and (2) to support bringing the bill to the Senate floor for a vote on final passage as soon as possible.

· If your Senators have already signed on as cosponsors, (1) thank them for their support and (2) urge them to support bringing the bill to the Senate floor for a vote on final passage as soon as possible.

All Senators can be reached by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

RESOURCES: See action alerts and letters on the Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty website of USCCB and CRS at www.usccb.org/globalpoverty. For more information contact: Gerry Flood, 202-541-3167 (phone), 202541-3339 (fax); gflood@usccb.org; and Fr. Andrew Small, OMI, 202-541-3153 (phone); asmall@usccb.org.