Even during these summer months, we can be weighed down by many things. The heat is an obvious candidate! We can be burdened by many other things and for all kinds of reasons: being overtired or overworked; a family relationship that has gone wrong or where communication has broken down; summer plans that got scuttled; and we can also struggle with poor health.
In the midst of all of this, Jesus speaks words of hope, just like He did to all the people in Galilee in His day. They were burdened by the demands of the Jewish Law – for, in failing to observe the Law, they felt themselves marginalized or even ostracized. Jesus did not offer them a new law. Rather, He offered Himself as their guide to a new life. He called them to learn from Him: “Come to me,” He said, and “learn from me.” (Matthew 11, 28-30). In our present age, even in these summer months, we too can learn from His example as well as His words. His teaching is clearly visible in who He is and how He lived.
Nobody gets to take a vacation (or even a day off) from being Catholic! The way of the Gospel is demanding, but our relationship with the Lord makes it much less demanding than it would otherwise be. St Paul assures us that God’s power at work within us is “able to accomplish immeasurably far more than all we can ask or imagine.” It is by remaining in Jesus that our lives will flourish and bear much fruit.
