"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." The sense of not being able to do enough or feeling crushed by life is an experience that sooner or later comes up in our lives. In those moments no words or reasoning help us, but feeling that someone really is there for us helps a lot.
The experience of faith is not just one of finding the key to understanding life; it’s also about experiencing a mysterious embrace full of love and care, especially when our strength fails. It’s actually one of the gifts of the Spirit: "fortitude," "consolation."
Jesus in today's Gospel shows us how we can embrace this gift:
"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."
In practice it basically means two things. First, taking his yoke upon us means no longer living life alone, depending on our own strength; the power of faith is in knowing that we are not alone, that we can live any and every situation of our life "together" with Christ. The second thing is meekness and humility, that is, choosing not to live in constant agitation and rebellion, but with the attitude of someone who faces what is before him without wasting time in complaining about it. Living this way makes life much easier!
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Father Luigi Maria Epicoco is a priest of the Aquila Diocese and teaches Philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University and at the ISSR ‘Fides et ratio,’ Aquila. He dedicates himself to preaching, especially for the formation of laity and religious, giving conferences, retreats and days of recollection. He has authored numerous books and articles. Since 2021, he has served as the Ecclesiastical Assistant in the Vatican Dicastery for Communication and columnist for the Vatican’s daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
