Greetings in Christ,
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Matthew 11.28-30
I ran across a brief note on Facebook several years ago that went something like this: 'Be patient with those you encounter today, you do not know the burden they may be carrying.’
Everyone at one time or another has a burden to carry. Some may be only for a few hours or days, others may last for years. Most of these burdens are unknown to others, or only a few others. We may not wish to bother others with our troubles. We may prefer to keep our struggles private. We may not know how to begin to ask for help. We may fear that no one would care about the burdens we must bear.
It is a gift from God to be able to talk about our burdens and know that we are being heard. If those who listen can help us bear the burden, it is an additional gift, but just being heard is often all we need.
Jesus invites us to come to Him with our burdens. He who will bear the burden of the world's sin and death longs to hear us as we lay our burdens before him. We can discover that at the feet of Jesus we receive the grace needed for the day's burden.
We also may discover that as we have found the grace we need for our burdens, we also can grow in our charity toward those whose burdens are unknown to us. Christ-like charity is the learning of compassion for each person you encounter. In charity and compassion, we may be able to help them come to Christ where they can lay their burdens down.