5 July, Sunday  –  Surrender your burden to God

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Zec 9:9-10
Rm 8:9,11-13
Mt 11:25-30 

“Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest…Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.“

All who are burdened – that’s all of us, is it not? 

It seems that we who have much, have also collected many and heavy, burdens. We are burdened with countless bits and pieces of life, are we not? And so many of our burdens seem as heavy as the entire RMS Titanic.

Yet, upon inspection, it’s not the whole of the Titanic that we are carrying. Most of our burdens are simply bits and pieces of the ship itself, or a teacup that was on that ship. And still, we pick up more, including the heavy load of the world. And every day, we become a bit more tired of carrying such a heavy load. Our arms are weary. Our legs are drained. Our minds are on autopilot because life, in us and around us, has become anything but easy. Anything but peaceful. 

We are a burdened people. Mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted because we are carrying not just our life, but the weight of the world. The yoke is hard and peace seems to be avoiding us. 

NOISE. Demands, commands, instructions….of conflict, chaos, confusion, frustration, irritation, aggravation and isolation, even when one isn’t alone. We are literally exhausted, caught in the rapids of the heavy flooding waters of noise, of busy, of hurry, of faster, of more. And this kind of existence will inevitably drown us. For many, life has turned into a day after day after day of going through the motions (and emotions) of habits, to the point that the thought of drowning with the backpacks of heavy burdens actually seems like a relief because we’ve no place to set the burdens. We can’t find any place to rest.

We are heavily burdened and spiritually empty, and that is why we can’t find any place to rest. 

We have forgotten WHO we belong to.

We have forgotten WHO wants to carry our burdens.

We have forgotten WHO created us.

We have forgotten WHO the Creator is, was and always will be – our very own Father.

We were created to allow Jesus to carry our burden. HOW?

It is crucial, it is vital, it is NECESSARY that we make the time daily, every morning and evening, to remember to put our burdens down – and look at them WITH God our FATHER. That is when we see them for what they are, the bits and pieces of heavy that we are not meant to carry, and the bits and pieces that we are not meant to carry because they don’t even belong to us. 

A daily examen is a tool to build our relationship with God, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit that St. Ignatius gave us. It is a tool that the enemy wants you to think is stupid, old fashioned and unnecessary. The enemy lies, because it is only in an honest relationship that any of us can find rest.

If the daily examen is already part of your prayer routine, I would like to share with you this version — in case it sparks in you in a new way (as it did me when I recently found it in the book, THE WAY OF SURRENDER by Vic Clesceri). If you’ve never practised a Daily Examen, then today is the day! It is a very good practice to pray in the mid afternoon and before bed. At night, I ‘review pray’ briefly pray it in bed, and in morning I pray it in my daily journal. The actual process of writing is a form of prayer that means the most to me and truly puts me ‘seated’ with Christ in conversation.

From ‘The Way of Surrender‘: Examining our thoughts and attitudes, we become more sensitive to the Spirit leading us in the moments of each day. We learn to think with the mind of Christ, to desire what He desires, and to reflect His love in every area our lives. 

1.  Gratitude — What are you most grateful for today?
2.  Awareness — When did you live in surrender over the past 24 hours? IN what moments did you resist surrender?
3.  His Voice — What is God saying to you today?
4.  Peace — Ask God to fill you with His abiding peace.
5.  Other People — Pray for anyone you feel called to pray for today.
6.  Finish by praying The Lord’s Prayer.

When we sit with the Father, we truly find rest; and when we stand back up, we find that He has picked up our burden, and our yoke feels light.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Gina Ulicny)

Prayer: Father God, I beg for the grace to make the time daily to sit with You, to accept the rest You have for me and to allow you to carry my burden. Lord, give me the daily grace to yoke myself only to You.

Thanksgiving: Heavenly Father, thank You for always showing up, for never sleeping in, for never skipping our time together, for always waiting on me and wanting to carry my burden. Thank You.