July 19. Thursday of Week Fifteen

0 Comments
|

Isa 26:7ff. A prayer of quiet confidence, awaiting the dawn of God’s justice.

Matt. 11:28ff. Come to me, all you who are weary and you will find rest.

The Ever-Present One

Isaiah’s prayer is to a God in whom he trusts, despite all that has happened in his lifetime to threaten his security and that of his people. Like Ireland in recent years, the Jews have experienced betrayal from within and oppression from outside forces. So the prophet prays, “My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.”  His spirituality is one of waiting for God, trusting that Providence will not fail. He believes in a God who “makes smooth the path of the righteous” and who can therefore be relied upon, no matter what. And so the prophet declares that the darkness is almost over and his people, Israel, is like a pregnant woman about to be delivered of a child. We learn to appreciate God’s presence with us best in our time of need.

Jesus reveals this same aspect of God in one of those classic texts which ought to be memorized by all of us.  It is, so to speak, the core of his theology. By his intimate relationship with us, God makes our yoke easy and our burden light. He is conscious that life can be weary and burdensome, yet does not make any false, easy promises. The yoke will remain, as will the burden, but with his help they become easy and light. The difference is made by the presence of Jesus who is “gentle and humble of heart.” The God who is with us always, promising ultimate peace at the end, is a gentle and loving Lord.

First Reading: Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19

The way of the righteous is level; O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the soul’s desire. My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us. O Lord, in distress they sought you, they poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them. Like a woman with child, who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near her time, so were we because of you, O Lord; we were with child, we writhed, but we gave birth only to wind. We have won no victories on earth, and no one is born to inhabit the world.

Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a radiant dew, and the earth will give birth to those long dead.

Gospel: Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Join the Discussion

Keep the following in mind when writing a comment

  • Your comment must include your full name, and email. (email will not be published). You may be contacted by email, and it is possible you might be requested to supply your postal address to verify your identity.
  • Be respectful. Do not attack the writer. Take on the idea, not the messenger. Comments containing vulgarities, personalised insults, slanders or accusations shall be deleted.
  • Keep to the point. Deliberate digressions don't aid the discussion.
  • Including multiple links or coding in your comment will increase the chances of it being automati cally marked as spam.
  • Posts that are merely links to other sites or lengthy quotes may not be published.
  • Brevity. Like homilies keep you comments as short as possible; continued repetitions of a point over various threads will not be published.
  • The decision to publish or not publish a comment is made by the site editor. It will not be possible to reply individually to those whose comments are not published.