Thursday of Week 15 in Ordinary Time
Liturgical Colour: Green
Year: A (II)
First Reading — Isaiah 26:7–9, 12, 16–19
"Awake and exult, all you who lie in the dust."
The path of the upright man is straight, you smooth the way of the upright.
Following the path of your judgements, we hoped in you, O Lord; your name, your memory are all my soul desires.
At night my soul longs for you and my spirit in me seeks for you; when your judgements appear on earth the inhabitants of the world learn the meaning of integrity.
O Lord, you are giving us peace, since you treat us as our deeds deserve.
Distressed, we search for you, O Lord; the misery of oppression was your punishment for us.
As a woman with child near her time writhes and cries out in her pangs, so are we, O Lord, in your presence: we have conceived, we writhe as if we were giving birth; we have not given the spirit of salvation to the earth, no more inhabitants of the world are born.
Your dead will come to life, their corpses will rise; awake, exult, all you who lie in the dust, for your dew is a radiant dew and the land of ghosts will give birth.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm — Psalm 101(102):13–21
Response: From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
You, O Lord, will endure for ever and your name from age to age.
You will arise and have mercy on Zion: for this is the time to have mercy, for your servants love her very stones, are moved with pity even for her dust.
Response: From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
The nations shall fear the name of the Lord and all the earth's kings your glory, when the Lord shall build up Zion again and appear in all his glory.
Then he will turn to the prayers of the helpless; he will not despise their prayers.
Response: From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
Let this be written for ages to come that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord; for the Lord leaned down from his sanctuary on high.
He looked down from heaven to the earth that he might hear the groans of the prisoners and free those condemned to die.
Response: From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
Gospel Acclamation — Matthew 11:28
Alleluia, alleluia!
Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel — Matthew 11:28–30
My yoke is easy and my burden light.
Jesus said:
"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.
Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light."
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflection
Few words spoken by Jesus have brought more comfort to weary hearts than His invitation: "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest." These are not words reserved for a particular group of people. They are spoken to anyone carrying the weight of life—whether that burden is grief, illness, financial pressure, family struggles, anxiety, loneliness or simply the exhaustion that comes from trying to hold everything together.
Many of us spend our days believing we must carry every responsibility alone. We convince ourselves that asking for help is a sign of weakness, or that if we just work a little harder everything will eventually fall into place. Yet the Christian life has never been about proving our strength. It has always been about discovering God's strength in the middle of our weakness.
Isaiah paints a similar picture of hope. Even while God's people are experiencing hardship, they continue to seek Him. Their confidence is not based on present circumstances but on God's faithfulness. One of the most remarkable promises in today's reading is that "Your dead will come to life." It is a reminder that God specialises in bringing life where we see only endings. What appears hopeless to us is never beyond His power to restore.
Jesus then speaks about taking His yoke upon ourselves. At first this sounds like an additional burden, but in His time a yoke was designed to be carried by two. Christ is inviting us to walk beside Him. He does not remove every challenge from our lives, but He refuses to let us carry them by ourselves. The burden becomes lighter because He shares it with us.
This is often how God's grace works. Our circumstances may not immediately change, yet our hearts begin to change. We discover patience where there was frustration, hope where there was discouragement and peace where there was constant worry. The burden is lighter because we no longer carry it alone.
Our world often teaches us to find rest through escape—another holiday, more entertainment, a different job or fewer responsibilities. While these things can certainly help, they cannot provide the deep rest Jesus is speaking about. The rest Christ offers is found in relationship with Him. It is the quiet confidence that, whatever tomorrow brings, we belong to the One who walks beside us.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that every human heart is created with a desire for God, and only in Him do we find lasting fulfilment and peace (CCC 27–30). It also teaches that prayer becomes the place where our burdens are entrusted to the Father, allowing His grace to strengthen us for the journey ahead (CCC 2558–2565).
Perhaps today's Gospel invites us to ask a simple but honest question: What burden am I still trying to carry without Jesus? We may have prayed about it before, yet continue trying to control every outcome ourselves. Christ's invitation remains unchanged. He is not asking us to pretend life is easy. He is asking us to stop carrying it alone.
His heart is gentle. His shoulders are strong. And His promise still stands: "You will find rest for your souls."
One Line to Carry Today
The burdens we place into Christ's hands become lighter because we never carry them alone.
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