Freedom to Choose your Burdens 

In 2020 it seemed as if everything revolved around COVID 19 as it should have. We were all burdened beyond belief and living through a life altering experience. The hardships and burdens of COVID-19 is one thing that should not have divided us but unite us in a common cause for the safety of every human person. I think no matter where we were in the world, we are all “burdened” as the pandemic hit and we all rallied around each other (6 feet social distance) tired and worried as we journeyed together and always moved forward hoping that our yoke would be made easy. 

In our Gospel this weekend, Jesus invites us to come to him with our burdens and heavy loads. Life itself is a burden. We are faced with different forms of burden. Some are imposed by others, and some are consequences of one’s past mistakes. Some burdens come to us as providence, the way God wants it. In that case God wants to achieve something in us and others through them as Christ achieved our salvation through the burden of the cross but not without the all-important virtue of humility. 

Jesus did not promise a burden free life. So, there is no one who has no burden to carry. He only promised a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light for those who would learn from him. Jesus has given us an invitation to come to him with our illness, bereavement, anxiety, depression and worry, etc. Our burden becomes His when we accept His will in all things. May He give us the grace to change the things we can, accept the things we cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference as is prayed in the Serenity Prayer.