“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.” (MT 11: 28-30)

Work, work, and work harder doesn’t come from Our Lord. He dedicated His life 100 % to His Father and to us, and He doesn’t leave anything for Himself, but still He understands the importance of rest. The most important part of rest is being with Him. Vacations are for being with Him when we can meet Him more deeply, especially experiencing that He is “meek and humble of heart,” and that His “yoke is easy, and His burden light.”

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father.” (EX 3: 5-6)

This name St. John Paul II used during his homily in my hometown Szczecin in 1987 to describe marriage. An absolutely unique name, but when you think about the dignity of marriage, its role and beauty, it is understandable to call marriage this way. “Come no nearer,” watch your step, “remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Marriage really is holy ground.
Why “come no nearer”? Because marriage is like stained glass and shows its beauty only from the inside of the Church. When you are outside, you can’t see its beauty. When you come too close, you will see only details, not God’s plan for it. And why “remove the sandals”? Because marriage “is holy ground.” You have to be very careful and respectful to protect its delicate structure. You have to know where you put a foot.

“Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.” (MT 11: 20)

Jesus’ miracles and teaching, all “of his mighty deeds, had been done” for a specific purpose—to bring us closer to God’s heart and to help us to create a new relationship with the Father and become His children. The only things needed from us are to recognize our sins, ask for forgiveness and repent. And nothing like this happened. But it could happen in our lives.

“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple–amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.” (MT 10: 42)

This is such a simple gesture, very obvious and practical, but when it is done “because somebody is a disciple,” it is rewarded. We are so important to Our Lord, so He rewards all kind of support, even the most simple and natural, when done by His disciple. St. Maximilian, when he met somebody who was very hostile or just unfriendly, asked for a glass of water, remembering that this person “will surely not lose his reward.” Even for enemies we can bring God’s grace.

“Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.” (EPH 1: 7-10)

All the graces: “redemption, forgiveness, riches of his grace and wisdom” come to us from Him, Our Lord. “In him we have” everything. And whatever we do is “to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.” Created by God and redeemed by Christ, we are progressing toward Heaven with the very special assistance of the Holy Spirit. Our future is in God’s hands. We are safe in His love.

“May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our call.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve his present end, the survival of many people.” (GN 50: 20)

We are always protected by God’s grace and Providence. Sometimes things look like everything is against us and look like we are being persecuted and under a huge attack, but we ARE protected, and God never ever forgets about us. Because He is a loving God, He is Love and Life. Our lives are protected by His love. We will see how our difficult times are for good, “to achieve his present end, the survival of many people.”

“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of God rests upon you.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (MT 10: 19-20)

An unusual promise: “do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say;” “we will be given.” Part of it is our role as witnesses of Jesus, but another is our Father’s care.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you to all truth and remind you of all I told you.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.” (MT 10: 12-13)

I like the idea where “wishing peace” is not just a salutation but an effective word. It goes from one person to another and if the recipient is not worthy will go back to the speaker: “If not worthy, let your peace return to you.” It shows us the power of God’s word and peace. Whenever we listen to the priest say, during the Holy Mass:  “peace be with you,” we should remember this.

“The Kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the Gospel.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“Pharaoh directed all the Egyptians to go to Joseph and do whatever he told them.” (GN 41: 55)

Pharaoh directed the Egyptians to Joseph, but we know that Joseph only prefigured Jesus Christ. We know it but let me mention also another person, also named Joseph, St. Joseph, who is protector of the Church, who took care for the Holy Family and who also takes care of us. The most obedient and modest person waits for us and will tell us how to love Our Lady and Our Lord, how to admire Them and how to serve Them.

“The Kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the Gospel.” (Gospel Acclamation)

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” (MT 9: 37-38)

This request from God was the Church’s concern from the beginning: “the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” We depend on priests because they bring us the most Holy Eucharist and the sacrament of Penance. But Our Lord needs our prayer: “so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” The more abundant the harvest is, the more prayer we need.

“I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me.” (Gospel Acclamation)