Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
He pardons all your iniquities, heals all your ills. He redeems your life from destruction, crowns you with kindness and compassion.
Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in kindness. Not according to our sins does he deal with
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
"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."
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest”
Fr. Antoni DEULOFEU i González (Barcelona, Spain)Today when we find ourselves weary from the daily grind—because we all carry heavy burdens that can sometimes be hard to bear—let's think of these words of Jesus: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). Let's rest in Him, who is the only one that can ease all of our concerns, and thus find the peace and love that the world doesn't always provide.
Truly human rest requires a dose of 'contemplation'. If we raise our eyes to heaven and pray with our hearts, and if we are humble, we will surely find and see God, for He is there; "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth" Mt 11:25. But He is not only there, we can also find Him in the 'easy yoke' of everyday little things: in the smile of a small child full of innocence, in the grateful gaze of a sick person we've visited, in the eyes of a poor person asking for our kindness and assistance…
Let's let our entire being rest, and completely entrust ourselves to God who is our only salvation and the salvation of the world. As Saint John Paul II recommended, for true rest, we need to “…cast a gaze full of joyous delight [at a job well done]. This is a ‘contemplative’ gaze which does not look to new accomplishments but enjoys the beauty of what has already been achieved” in the presence of God. Moreover, we should express gratitude to Him: Everything comes from the Most High and, without Him, we could do nothing (cf Jn 15:5).
Indeed, one of the current major dangers is that “Ours is a time of continual movement which often leads to restlessness, with the risk of ‘doing for the sake of doing.’ We must resist this temptation by trying ‘to be’ before trying ‘to do’” (Saint John Paul II). Because, in reality, as Jesus tells us, there is only one necessary thing (cf. Lk 10:42): “Take my yoke upon you… and you will find rest for your selves” (Mt 11:29).
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“The crucified Lord is a supreme witness of patient love and of humble meekness.” (Saint John Paul II)
“Only by contemplating the suffering humanity of Jesus can we become meek, humble, and tender as he is. There is no other way.” (Francis)
“(…) The Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation, is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings without exception.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Nº 478)
December 26th
Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr
Gospel and commentary video
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December 25th
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas): Mass during the Night
Gospel and commentary video
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