Br. Ed Van Merrienboer, OP

In our Gospel today, Jesus tells us that he will give rest to the weary. Life is sometimes a struggle. Jesus is not minimizing that, but assuring us that he can help us in the worst of times by accompanying us. We never have to suffer alone.

In our Gospel today, Jesus tells us that our faith should be "childlike." Children's understanding of the world is based on personal experience and first-hand knowledge. Let us develop that kind of faith—not the God whom we have heard about, but the God whom we have met.

Jesus says that we are to love our enemies. To do this, we need to bring the Good News to those in our lives or those we meet whom actually anger us. Can we be such witnesses to the Gospel?

In the Jewish world of Jesus' day, there were many interpretations of laws and their meaning. Jesus moved away from a minimal understanding of what God required of us and pushed his disciples to put their entire soul into the divine work of reconciliation, and thus help bring about the Kingdom of God.

oday’s powerful message reflects on Revelation 21, where God promises a new heaven and a new earth—a world transformed by love, justice, and peace.

Jesus assures his disciples that, though he is going, they will still be connected. May we all feel this closeness.