This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
As they prepare us for Christmas, our Advent readings focus on a wide, rich array of benefits for which the world can look to its coming Savior. In recent days we have seen promise of healing, and of restoration of bounty.
Today’s first reading tell us that we can look to Him for rest and stamina–that we may not grow weary with the excessive burden that this life, and this broken world, put upon us.
And which of us has not felt at some time overwhelmed with the burden of our responsibilities? Weary without recourse to rest? The nurse works a double shift in times of need; the miner returns home with weary bones, concerned with the possible effect of the mine on his lungs; the priest, stretched thin, finds little sympathy and less time for disconnecting and rest.
Above all, the weight of these burdens affects our soul: At times, the more we work, the more we feel that we get behind; how can we do right by the ones we love?
There seems to be no respite from this exhaustion spiral. But Jesus gives us the secret about where we are to find respite, as foreshadowed by the first reading: His Heart. Making time for prayer can seem one more burden. But the effect is the reverse. We immerse our cares and sense of inadequacy in His meek and merciful Heart, and He teaches us that our gift of self is actually more than enough–because He is the one ultimately who does the heavy lifting for our loved ones. Our gift on its own falls miserably short, but in His redemptive hands it becomes a source of powerful grace–because it triggers a further outpouring of HIS gift.
This is what we can expect from the Savior who comes as a little baby at Christmas.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to help you always to bear in mind that He is the only authentic source of rest for your soul, because all that you work for and care about is superabundantly supplemented by what His loving Heart pours out into your life.
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