“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Summer for many is a lazier time of the year. The longer hours of daylight give us license to cram a little more fun into each day. Yet trouble never takes a vacation, and burdens that weigh on us in December are just as heavy in July. Our prayer list remains lengthy with the names of those needing healing, work, reconciliation—or hope, by any other name.
Jesus knows all about carrying loads too heavy to lift and suffering anguish too deep to express. He has experience forgiving the enemy, snatching victory from defeat and even death. For those who feel they labor to no purpose, Jesus has stories to tell about three years of thankless ministry, followed by betrayal—not to mention 20 centuries of a variably faithful Church. In Jesus alone do we find a place to lay the burden down.
Write down three burdens that you’ve carried a while and would like to lay down. Put them at the foot of a cross or in a Bible, and ask Jesus to carry them for you.
(Reflection and questions by Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings)
Since the Sunday Gospel is the heart of the Gospel Weeklies, an important part of preparing to share the Gospel with children is to read and reflect on it in advance of your class session. The Gospel at Home and the Gospel for All Ages (see Gathering Rituals/Questions) are resources on our website that can help you do this. While these resources take a break in the summer months, we’ll be drawing our weekly reflections from Exploring the Sunday Readings.
Image credit: Dieter Hawlan/Shutterstock
