Isaiah 26: 7-9, 12, 16-19; Psalm 102; Matthew 11: 28-30
The reading from Isaiah is a psalm of praise, of trust in the resurrection which was not yet a tenet of Israel’s faith. Does a prophet tell the future? No, but if a prophet knows God intimately then the prophet knows that “Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise. O dwellers in the earth, awake and sing for joy!” The prophet believes that God wills peace for us, and that everything we have done was really God doing for us. Jesus wills our interior peace when he invites all who labor and are heavy burdened (in this economy, perhaps those who cannot find labor!) to come to him and rest. “I am gentle and humble of heart.”
Jesus is gentle. And you? Pray to carry his heart in your heart. Jesus is humble.
How is he humble? Ask him. Do you want to be humble? Ask the Spirit to grow that fruit in you. When do you doubt life after death? Most of us do, for a minute, a month, a lifetime. If there were no resurrection, would your behavior change? Why or why not?
Creator and creating God, deepen our trust in your will for our peace, today and always. Make us instruments of peace and attractive signs of your work in the world.