We find our peace when we find God…..”For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” - The alternative is not what it is “cracked up to be” and there is nothing “light” about it

Today at Holy Mass we hear something in the Gospel of St Matthew that we all have heard time and time again….But - Do we believe it?……"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”…So here is the question…..If we follow God’s will - Do we think we are “missing out” in life?……Most people, if they were honest would say YES…..This is one of the greatest lies ever spun by the devil……God only gives, he never takes……And when we live in the state of grace, we live in peace…Even if the world is completely crazy around us…There is a peace that comes with living in God’s will that NOTHING the world can give can equal…Yet - Our world rejects this notion - We continue to “reach for dust” - Only to be short changed in the end…..But today is a new day - We can ALWAYS begin again!…..Ask Our Lady to help you….Ask Our Lady to extend her motherly love towards you and guide you to her son……I can tell you what steps you should take - But that will do no good……Ask Our Lady - In your own words - Ask her.

“He remembers forever his covenant which he made binding for a thousand generations--Which he entered into with Abraham and by his oath to Isaac”

You are missing out?!? - Really!……I got married late in life…At the age of 43 - I always wanted to get married but frankly God did not send me my wife until I was older and in the mean time, between the ages of 22 to 42 I was alone….During that time I learned a “few things”……God forms us in and through life - We must be patient with him because he has a plan for YOUR life and his plan is infinitely BIGGER and BETTER than YOUR plan…Let me stop there - Because most people do not believe that - But today is a new day - Start believing it!……This morning I read something from one of my favorite Catholic saints…Fr Walter Ciszek SJ (1984)….Well - He has not been declared a saint yet, he has been declared a Servant of God by the Church - But I am sure one day he will be canonized a saint…I have read a number of books about him….This morning I read something related to our Gospel today from Mass that Fr Ciszek wrote…For those who do not know Fr Ciszek, he spent 23 years in prison in the former Soviet Union…So I would think Fr Ciszek learned a “thing or two” about what St Matthew tells us today….”For my yoke is easy, and my burden light”……..This is what Fr Cisaek had to say about accepting the burdens of life and trust me - If you read what he endured in prison, you would know that he had to “deal” with a lot and still he remained faithful…..”No matter what my small sufferings are, I have a choice. I can either let them make me bitter, or I can meet them with the confidence that God will not abandon me……… because the proud man or woman just can't really have Christ”…….The purpose of life is to be sanctified - And if you do not view life in this manner, a person automatically rejects any suffering that comes along when following Our Lord and refuses to sacrifice self for God and neighbor…God knows us better than we know ourself and God uses the events of life to sanctify us - Period Full Stop!……No matter who you are on this earth, you will experience suffering and one day you will die….The secular world can not “wrap their arms” around that reality - Only in and through Christ do we find meaning through suffering and death….When we learn to trust the Lord and rely upon his grace given to us through the Sacraments, daily prayer and weekly fasting….No matter what life throws at us - We are given a peace the world can not give…And “such a peace” I just described is REAL…..Those of us who have experienced life know full well that - "All that glitters is not gold”……Most of us reading this right now have at one time or another “taken a bite of the apple” only in the end to be left with a “stomach ache”…Its only in striving, with the help of God’s grace to live out our Catholic faith sacramentally will we find “rest” as St Matthew describes in today’s gospel….Still don’t believe me?…..In my life I have met all kinds of people…Rich people and poor people….Educated people and simple people…….Sinners and Saints and everything in between…..BY FAR - The happiest people I have EVER met were and are to this day Mother Teresa’s sisters - The Missionaries of Charity….And these women live a life that the world rejects outright - Yet …..These women have peace and they are filled with joy……”For my yoke is easy, and my burden light”- Seeing is believing - RIGHT?!?

“He sent Moses his servant; Aaron, whom he had chosen. They wrought his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham”

Today we are told something by St Matthew at Mass that most people have heard but frankly do not believe…..Our world today is desperately looking for God but sadly it is looking for God in all the wrong places….Life is about “finding your peace”….And we can’t “fake it”…..Until we accept the reality that “the heart does not rest until it rests in thee”….A hard lesson learned told to us by St Augustine who was not a stranger to a “good party” before he “figured things out”……Until we accept the reality that peace out side of God DOES NOT exist….Frankly, we will simply live a life of frustration, never understanding why we suffer and fear death as it knocks upon our door……This is reality…..We find our peace when we find God…..”For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” - The alternative is not what it is “cracked up to be” and there is nothing “light” about it