Come to Me

Today’s gospel is rich with so many Truths; I chose a couple of things to reflect on. 

"At that time Jesus exclaimed: "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones”

(Matthew 11:25).  

This passage reminded me of something I jotted down from the November issue of Magnificat.  “Only the childlike retain the child’s gift of wonder. Wondering, we forget ourselves entirely, lost in what has provoked our awe. Wonder is the well spring of praise. We have reason for our praise: we are God’s children, made in his image.” I never thought of wonder as the wellspring of praise. I do think wonder is what pulls us toward God, it is one of the reasons we seek His face. When I remain “childlike” I allow this gift of wonder to draw me closer to our Lord. I am able to sit in awe of Him. When I meditate on scripture or am doing my Biblical Studies homework, learning more about Christ, I find myself wanting to draw even closer to him. I want to fall prostrate before him in the Blessed Sacrament, I want to raise my hands in praise and give glory to God. I can have this sense of wonder whether my life is extremely hard or when I am experiencing the normal trials of everyday life. This childlike wonder is what allows us to see the miracles in the most difficult of situations.

"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" (Matthew 11:28-30).

This is one of my favorite passages in the gospel of Matthew. Jesus wants us to come to him with all of who we are. If we are weary of the trials in our lives, if we are unable to forgive, if we are tired of fighting against the same temptations day after day, he wants us to share these things with him. He wants us to bring our worries, fears, anger, sorrow, despair, hopes, and dreams.  He wants us to find rest in Him, to be renewed for our journey. He wants us to take his yoke upon us and let go of the yoke we have placed on ourselves because it is not what God desires for us. His yoke is bearable because He is there beside us. We are “yoked” with Him so our burden is lightened.