Community Word: Those who come to Jesus find rest in Him.
Order: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28)
Reflection:
The order for the month of July is unquestionably one of the more significant biblical verses, providing those who are burdened with a promise of hope and assurance. It is the answer to the despair and helplessness we experience when faced with problems that seem to defy solution. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28).
It is a source of inspiration that has transformed lives, and a familiar theme among LSS sharers, but it applies equally to ordinary servants of the Lord in their daily struggles. When members of Bukas Loob sa Diyos Community find themselves exhausted and burnt out from numerous mission activities, they need to find rest in the Lord and allow Him to replenish and nourish them. We find rest in simple things, such as hearing mass, receiving Holy Communion, reading and meditating on the word of God, or spending quiet time at the Adoration chapel. We unburden ourselves of troubles and worries, and peace and serenity in the presence of the Lord. This is the Word for the month of July: Those who come to Jesus find rest in Him.
Week 1 (14th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
To be a follower of Jesus is to be like Him, and to be like Him means to denounce worldly attachments. The prophet Zechariah in the first reading, prophesies Jesus riding on an ass, devoid of pomp and power that is normally associated with royalty. “See, your king shall come to you; a just saviour is he, meek, and riding on an ass,…(Zech 9:9) Our Lord, the King of Kings, chooses to ride on an ass in all modesty and humility. As leaders of the community, are we as humble as the Lord? This is our theme for the first week of July: “We find rest in Jesus when we are meek and humble of hearts.” It is when we are humble that the Lord raises us up. And our promise of the week is: “The Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.” (Ps 145:14)
Week 2 (15th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
We can say that the first set of apostles were truly blessed because they lived with Jesus for three years, followed Him everywhere he went, listened to His teachings first hand, and asked Him questions in person. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case with His disciples today, more than 2,000 years later. But He is truly a faithful God who did not leave us orphans. We continue to converse with Him through the bible where His word is true yesterday, today and forever. It is up to us to decide how intimately we wish to know and be with the Lord through His word, and more importantly, how much of his word we want to live by in our daily lives. This is our theme for the first week of July: “We find rest in Jesus when we listen and understand the word of God.” The more productive and fruitful we are, the more accomplished the purpose of God’s word is in our life. This is the Lord’s promise for the week: “…my word…shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (Isa 55:11)
Week 3 (16th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
The gospel for the 3rd week of July is full of parables revolving around the same teaching as the parable of the sower. It points to the fact that the world is full of saints and sinners, or metaphorically, of wheat and weeds. At the end of our journey, “…the angels will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will be thrown into the fiery furnace…” (Mat 13:41) This leads us to examine how we want to live our life on earth i.e., to live as saints, or as sinners. We want to be like the mustard seed that starts out as the smallest seed but grows so large, “the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches,” (Mat 13:32). This is our theme for the 3rd week: We find rest in Jesus when we grow and bear fruit for the Kingdom of God. Then can we attain our promise for the week: “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Mt 13:43)
Week 4 (17th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
The gospel of the last Sunday of the month is a carry-over from the previous week. At the end of age, “The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them (the wicked) into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth,” (Mat 13:49-50). We don’t want to be thrown out of the Kingdom, and so we devote our life seeking to enter the kingdom of heaven, which means everything to us. This is the theme for the week: We find rest in Jesus when we treasure Him as our pearl of great price. With this treasure comes our beautiful promise for the week: “…all things work for the good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
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