Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 18, 2019
Jesus said:
“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.”
Rest is a theme that pops up in my life quite frequently. It’s probably because I’m not very good at it. It’s easy for me to become obsessed with reading books and articles about “the best ways to rest”—and then I realize I’m doing quite the opposite. I am currently in a season of life where I’m finishing school, starting a new job, buying a home, and getting married all within a two-month period, and so I know firsthand that it’s not always easy to find time to rest!
A few months ago, I implemented a daily discipline in my life that changed me. I was living in Jerusalem at the time and so wrestling with God and religion was part of my daily milieu. But no matter how much reading or studying or journaling I did, nothing brought me peace. So instead of doing, I decided to be. Practically, this meant drinking a cup of coffee each morning in total silence and rest. I found that as the coffee in my cup subsided, so did the tumult in my heart.
In spite of my flagrant inability to rest, God softly reminds me each day that resting isn’t something I do, it’s something that I receive. Rest isn’t a strategy I need to incorporate into my life, it is a posture that I develop towards God. Resting is an intentional openness to the endless amounts of grace God gives to me each day, because when we choose to take on his thoughts, words, and hopes for us, everything feels light.
When Jesus says, “come to me,” he means this quite literally. We need to do whatever it takes to come to Jesus each day. When we come into the presence of God, we find that rest is right there, waiting for us with open arms.
Prayer
My God, Our Father, may your grace always remind us that we must learn to see our lives as invitations to show mercy and to give our love. Whatever we are obliged to do or expected to do matters less than what we are given to do by your inspiration over and beyond the minimum of the “letter of the law.” We pray with the Church through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Frederick was the beloved bishop of Utrecht who challenged his flock—including the empress Judith of Bavaria—to live a Christian way of life. Frederick was born around 780.
Frederick was prepared for his pastoral vocation at a young age. He was ordained a priest and sent to a mission diocese in the northern region of the Netherlands and Germany. In the more rural areas, incestuous relationships were common, and Frederick worked hard to change this tradition. This caused many of the villagers to resent Frederick.
Frederick was appointed the Bishop of Utrecht around 815. It was in this role that he called upon the empress Judith to cease her debaucherous lifestyle at court. Either the empress or disgruntled members of his congregation hired hitmen to do away with Frederick. The latter is most likely.
Frederick was assassinated on July 18 , 838, after celebrating Mass at the Cathedral in Utrecht. His dying words were those of psalmist: "I will praise the Lord in the land of the living." Frederick is the patron saint of the deaf.
St. Frederick, bishop and martyr who called his flock to conversion—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Frederick is in the public domain. Last accessed March 19, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
