9 December 2020

Optional Memorial of Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

Hope, confidence in God, is the summation of the images in the first reading. Christ repeats and expands this theme in what he says in the Gospel: “I will give you rest,” and: “my burden is light.” He invites us to follow him.  He is “meek and humble of heart.”  But, in this time of the virus epidemic, it is not easy to do so, not easy to sit back and let him take on our worries, sufferings, and even my sins, especially those I commit over and over again.  So, what better way to prepare for Christmas is there than to tell the Lord what weighs so heavily on me in this closed-down, mask-on culture? He comes at Christmas to participate in our lives, bringing us his peace and love, and asks us to collaborate in his redemptive mission.  This is why hope and confidence are so important. This is why accepting his invitation to rest more frequently, hit the spiritual pillow, and place more confidence in him.  How? Should we not ask him daily for the grace to know?