Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi
"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.”
For us, 2019 has been a very challenging year--perhaps you can relate. It seems like every month, something new is weighing us down physically and emotionally--from a bullet coming through our roof and our water heater flooding part of our basement, to damage and destruction from tornadoes and violence in our beloved city. Often, we have found ourselves in discord and anguish, feeling drained--emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually. Our world and daily life already provide sufficient cause for burden and anxiety; turn on the evening news, scroll through twitter, pick up the newspaper. As parents of three little ones who also serve in careers that work with youth and young adults, it is easy for us to feel worry and strain about the kind of culture and dissonance these young people will face in the future. We labor...we are burdened...we have felt the hatred, injury, discord, doubt, despair, darkness, sadness. The weight of it all drives us further into the depths of frustration...weariness...exhaustion. How do we overcome? Where do we begin to find rest? Oh how we long for peace.
But as we spiral, Jesus cries out to us, “Come”! We are blessed to have a God who chases after us, constantly inviting us to rest in him, learn from him. In today’s gospel, Jesus proclaims, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest.” Our faith in God compels us to believe in that sentence alone. Jesus has already saved the world; he has taken our sins, our labors, our toils, tribulations, burdens to the cross. But he goes further, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart...for my yoke is easy and my burden light.” Literally, ‘here, take mine. I’ve got yours’.
We are not meant to do this alone. As we struggle through the challenges of this world, Jesus reminds us that it is not about this world and it is not about us. To be meek and humble of heart is to recognize the power of community, the strength of our brothers and sisters in Christ. As neighbors, we lift each other up in times of need. As we have moved through the events of this year, we are continually reminded that our God is a God of hope, a God of light, a God of love. We have been reminded through the volunteers cleaning up debris in our neighborhood, neighbors checking in on us, friends providing shelter, strangers offering prayer and sharing a kind embrace. The body of Christ--the many parts and the whole--responds to the forces of evil and darkness with love, pardon, union, faith, hope, light, joy...peace. How have you responded to the forces of darkness? How have you been instruments of love and peace in the body of Christ? Are you willing to allow Jesus to take your yoke so you can find rest?
“O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." Amen.
- Abundant Blessings, Brandon & LeeAnn Meyer