Friday, July 1, 2011

Those who love the Sacred Heart rejoice

“The sacred heart of Christ is an inexhaustible fountain and its sole desire is to pour itself out into the hearts of the humble so as to free them and prepare them to lead lives according to his good pleasure.” - Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque from a letter

Gospel text (Mt 11,25-30): At that time Jesus exclaimed:
"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal 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."

Today when, at the end of the day, we feel weary and exhausted —for, at times, we all have heavy burdens difficult to bear— we may recall these words of Jesus, «Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you» (Mt 11:28). Let us find all our rest in Him, who is the only one that can make our burden light and take our worries away, so that we can find all the peace and all the love the world denies us.

Human relief needs, to be authentic, a dose of “contemplation”. If we turn our eyes to heaven and pray with all our heart, if we are humble, we can be sure we shall find and see God, because He is there («Father, Lord of heaven, I praise you»: Mt 11:25). But He is not only there, we can also find him in the “easy yoke” of our everyday's small things: let us find him in that child's smile, full of innocence; in the grateful stare, from that ailing person we have visited; in that poor man's eyes beseeching our help, our compassion...

Let us rest in our loving Savior, and let us fully trust in Him, who is our sole salvation and the salvation of humanity. As John Paul II recommended, to properly rest, we must cast «a gaze full of joyous delight [for the very good work]: . This is a “contemplative” gaze which does not look to new accomplishments but enjoys the beauty of what has already been achieved» in God's presence. Furthermore, we must also thank Him, for everything comes from the Almighty and, without Him, nothing could be done.

One of the current great dangers is, precisely, 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”» (John Paul II). Because, actually, as Jesus tells us, only one thing is needed (cf. Lk 10:42): «Take my yoke upon you (…) and you will find rest for your souls» (Mt 11:29).

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