From: Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus Thanks His Father

[28] Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29]
Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For My yoke is easy, and My burden is
light.”

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Commentary:

28-30. Our Lord calls everyone to come to Him. We all find things difficult in one
way or another. The history of souls bears out the truth of these words of Jesus.
Only the Gospel can fully satisfy the thirst for truth and justice which sincere peo-
ple feel. Only our Lord, our Master—and those to whom He passes on His power
— can soothe the sinner by telling him, “Your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). In
this connection Pope Paul VI teaches: “Jesus says now and always, ‘Come to
Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ His attitude to-
wards us is one of invitation, knowledge and compassion; indeed, it is one of of-
fering, promise, friendship, goodness, remedy of our ailments; He is our comfor-
ter; indeed, our nourishment, our bread, giving us energy and life” (”Homily on
Corpus Christi”, 13 June 1974).

“Come to Me”: the Master is addressing the crowds who are following Him, “ha-
rassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). The Phari-
sees weighed them down with an endless series of petty regulations (cf. Acts
15:10), yet they brought no peace to their souls. Jesus tells these people, and
us, about the kind of burden He imposes: “Any other burden oppresses and cru-
shes you, but Christ’s actually takes weight off you. Any other burden weighs
down, but Christ’s gives you wings. If you take a bird’s wings away, you might
seem to be taking weight off it, but the more weight you take off, the more you
tie it down to the earth. There it is on the ground, and you wanted to relieve it
of a weight; give it back the weight of its wings and you will see how it flies” (St.
Augustine, “Sermon” 126).

“All you who go about tormented, afflicted and burdened with the burden of your
cares and desires, go forth from them, come to Me and I will refresh you and you
shall find for your souls the rest which your desires take from you” (St. John of
the Cross, “Ascent of Mount Carmel”, Book 1, Chapter 7, 4).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading	Exodus 3:13-20 ©

Moses, hearing the voice of God coming from the middle of the bush, said to him, ‘I am to go, then, to the sons of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you.” But if they ask me what his name is, what am I to tell them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I Am who I Am. This’ he added ‘is what you must say to the sons of Israel: “I Am has sent me to you.”’ And God also said to Moses, ‘You are to say to the sons of Israel: “The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.” This is my name for all time; by this name I shall be invoked for all generations to come.

‘Go and gather the elders of Israel together and tell them, “The Lord, the God of your fathers, has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; and he has said to me: I have visited you and seen all that the Egyptians are doing to you. And so I have resolved to bring you up out of Egypt where you are oppressed, into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land where milk and honey flow.” They will listen to your words, and with the elders of Israel you are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has come to meet us. Give us leave, then, to make a three days’ journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to the Lord our God.” For myself, knowing that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless he is forced by a mighty hand, I shall show my power and strike Egypt with all the wonders I am going to work there. After this he will let you go.’

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 104(105):1,5,8-9,24-27 ©