A Homily for Thursday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
Thursday, July 17, 2025
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 8:00 Mass
Exodus 3:13-20; Psalm 105:1 and 5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27; Matthew 11:28-30
Audio Recording
In today’s familiar Gospel reading, the same Almighty God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush in our first reading now speaks with human lips: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” This is the voice of Jesus, the Son of God, the great “I AM” in the flesh.
The God of Moses now walks among His people, fully God and fully man. And His invitation is personal, tender, and deeply consoling: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest.” Jesus is inviting us to let Him help us carry our burdens.
Jesus asks us to trust Him by giving Him all of our cares, concerns and sufferings. When we do, He promises to give us rest. Our burdens become easier to carry. When we attempt to carry our burdens by ourselves we find them to be very heavy. But when we give them to Jesus, we find our load greatly lightened.
And after offering to help us carry our burdens, He then invites us to take on his yoke, his burden, his heart, which he tells us is not heavy. Why? Because when we do, His strength becomes our strength. His peace replaces our restlessness. His presence lightens our every burden.
How do we take on Jesus’ burdens? We can do this in so many ways, perhaps by visiting the sick, by caring and praying for our neighbor, burying the dead, and practicing the other spiritual and corporal works of mercy. When we carry his yoke – his burdens – our own burdens become much lighter. Our burdens won’t necessarily go away, but they will be much easier to carry because we’ll become more aware of the fact that Christ is carrying the load with us.
When we are consumed with our own problems we tend not to think about the burdens Jesus wants us to carry for Him. When we become obsessed with our own problems they tend to consume us. But when we give ourselves over to Him completely, continuing to do his work in spite of the difficulties we are personally experiencing, our difficulties become much easier to bear.
By surrendering ourselves completely to His will we will experience the joy and the peace that passes all understanding as we pass through the trials and tribulations of our life.
So today let us ask Our Lord to help us respond to his call and take His yoke upon ourselves, regardless of the personal burdens we are carrying. Let’s trust Him to help us carry our burdens and offer to carry His yoke, bringing his love to our neighbors and to a world that is so in need of healing and peace.
By helping Jesus carry His burdens, our own burdens will become much lighter.
God bless you.