BRINGING OUR BURDEN TO THE SAVIOUR


WEDNESDAY, SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT

Isa 40:25-31; Ps 103:1-4,8,10; Mt 11:28-30

Natural Invitation to the Saviour

We all have a natural invitation to the Saviour who comes in a nature like ours. The reason for the Eternal Word garbing himself with our nature is precisely to attract and hold our attention. This is the meaning of an invitation: an expression of a desire to share something with a person or people we invite to join us. God wills to commune with us, to share his life with us. There is no better invitation to us than to see our Saviour appear in flesh and blood like ours. As reflected yesterday, what prompts our God to seek us out is his infinite compassion and knowledge of our nature, which he made in the image of his own divine nature. Understanding the implications of our straying from communion with him, even more than we can ever comprehend, he comes in the Incarnation of his Word to locate, identify with us, and redeem us. In taking our nature to himself, God places the end of our journey to be like him in our nature and within our reach. Hence, essentially, we are all redeemed and made like him in principle. The author of the letter to the Hebrews captures this distinctly when he says that God is now sanctifying those he has perfected. Our human nature attained its goal when it was assumed by the Eternal Word of God. God took back our nature made to be his temple in a way that it can never be hijacked again by the evil one. What is left for us now is to follow the Saviour by a continuous connection with the humanity of our Lord in faith.

The Lord addresses our ignorance of his great love and concern for our salvation in his plan of salvation for us through the prophet Isaiah, saying: “How can you say, Jacob, how can you insist, Israel, ‘My destiny is hidden from the Lord, my rights are ignored by my God’? Did you not know? Had you not heard? The Lord is an everlasting God, he created the boundaries of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary, his understanding is beyond fathoming. He gives strength to the wearied, he strengthens the powerless.” God gave us an incredible power in the work he has accomplished through the Saviour. The beauty and wonder of the salvation he accomplished for us in the Lord Jesus Christ is beyond human reckoning. He has saved each of us in principle. The actualisation of his salvation in us awaits our faith in Jesus Christ. Without faith, we cannot share in the communion which is already within our nature. As Saint Paul explained, we need not ask for someone to travel to the height of heaven or the depth of the land of the dead to bring us salvation. Salvation is within us by virtue of the coming of the Eternal Word in human nature. The infinite power of God has accomplished what human strength can never dream of nor accomplish. “Young men may grow tired and weary, youths may stumble, but those who hope in the Lord renew their strength; they put out wings like eagles. They run and do not grow weary, walk and never tire.”

The redeemed human nature is restored to a state even better than the original state of our nature before the fall. But the glory will only be visible at the end of the renewal or sanctifying process. It is a process of faith, hope, and charity, leading us to grow in the communion of the Holy Spirit and the likeness of the Son of Man. Thus, our Lord invites us in the Gospel saying:  “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” The yoke of our Lord is his obedience to the Father’s will in all things. It is an easy yoke because doing the Father’s will is walking and working in the strength of grace. Grace is what helps us to accomplish every task with divine strength. It is what gives us the eagle’s wings to fly like the Blessed Virgin Mary in the book of Revelation, and as Isaiah prophesied above. Our Lord Jesus Christ, being the Eternal Word of God, is the author of all graces we receive for our sanctification. Through him, God will accomplish all things in us if we believe, hope, and love sincerely. The Psalmist lists what God does in us who believe. “It is he who forgives all your guilt, who heals every one of your ills, who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion.” Let us believe in the Saviour who comes to redeem us from our sins and evils.

Let us pray: Almighty God, who command us to prepare the way for Christ the Lord, grant in your kindness, we pray, that no infirmity may weary us as we long for the comforting presence of our heavenly physician. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.    

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