St. Faustina Kowalska
Mt 11:25-30
At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“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.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Humility is the Ticket
In a world of longer and longer CV’s, fancy acronyms before and after our names, and rugged competition in almost every domain of our lives, maybe you’re like me and just exhausted by it all. Today’s Gospel, however, is a breath of fresh air, a flip, a release.
Humility is the ticket out of the race and the dirt path towards peace and joy. Humility doesn’t mean quitting our day jobs and abandoning our important responsibilities, but stepping back and asking: who am I here? What are my weaknesses as well as my strengths? Where can I grow? Who can help me? Who’s helped me to get here and how can I thank them?
Humility opens the door to others and opens the door to God, accepting and embracing imperfection and incompletion and the journey ahead – a journey without the heavy load of needing and trying to be perfect.
—Fr. Garrett Gundlach, SJ, is a Jesuit priest of the Midwest Province studying Arabic and interfaith dialogue at the University of Saint Joseph in Beirut, Lebanon.
Prayer
Dear Jesus,
I am weary and am carrying a heavy burden like you said,
And at least half of it is plain-and-simply mine-
I’m not this enough
I’m not that enough
I’m too much this
I’m too much that
and what if they find out?!
Jesus, please give me rest.
Replace my burden with yours,
my yoke with yours,
replace my judgment with gentleness
replace my ego’s bigness with humility’s smallness
and help me learn how to rest
knowing my life isn’t about success,
but about us- you, me, my family, my neighbor
and how we complete each other along the way.
Amen.
—Fr. Garrett Gundlach, SJ