For those who are Baptized and Confirmed in the faith of the Catholic Church the labor and burden of life should be restful – the yoke of it should be easy, and the burden of it should be light! If it isn't for any of us: then, perhaps we have not "followed the instructions on the box" – as many are wont to do. Sometimes the last resort is reading the "owner's manual!" (Have any of you ever tried to program a VCR/DVD Player?)
"Baptized/Confirmed life in Christ" makes us entirely NEW CREATIONS! Spiritual laws and spiritual rules now apply – and they have spiritual directions and spiritual applications – and they must be used as directed, to make things run right! And so we need to know how to interpret these spiritual realities – and that is why we come to Church on Sunday (and weekdays when we can); that is why we take catechetical classes; that is why we attend spiritual retreats – to GET TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT WE ALREADY POSSESS, and have been gifted with, especially by the Sacraments of Initiation into the Church: Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist!
In this day in age – we as individuals, we as members of a family, we as members of a society and country need to know how to apply the rules of our spiritual dimension – or else they are being wasted on us and in us. What a transformation could take place within us, our, Church, our families and our nation (as we take a look at it and its needs on this Fourth of July Weekend) - if we fully implemented the wonderful gifts we have been given by God: the labor
and burden of living our lives would truly be much lighter, the yoke easier – BECAUSE JESUS WOULD BE CARRYING A GREATER PROPORTION OF IT! THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS! WE DO NOT HAVE TO DO IT ON OUR OWN! – this is a difficult idea for "let-me-do-it-by-myself" Americans! – to grasp!
In fact, if we completely surrender our lives and the projects in our lives to him - and live according to the Spirit, rather than by the apparent pulls, tugs, and "urgings of the flesh" – then we will find that it is virtually a breeze: like the gentle blowing of the Holy Spirit that will fill our lives, the lives of our families, our Church and our country! – and the results will be even better than we – working independently on our own – could possibly have imagined!
As prophesized in the first reading today: the one who would make this possible: the Savior; would be Jesus; who would come among his people meekly, humbly and riding on a donkey! The prerequisite for obtaining the fullness of spirituality in our lives is for us also to approach Jesus: meekly, humbly, yet so lovingly and trustingly and riding on nothing but our feet! He will turn to us and say: What is it that you want? And we can say to him: "We want to give you our labors and our burdens!" and he will say: "Of course I will take them – give them to me! and together let us walk through the hours and days; the months and the years of the rest of your lives with your greatest good in mind, and that of your family and of your country!"
Blessed are you, Father, (Abba), Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones (to the meek and humble) the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven!
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