Feast Day of St. Juan Diego
Gospel Reading: Mathew 11:28-30
"Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light." Mathew 11:28-30
I am sure you all feel the same way I do about this gospel reading. Everytime I read it, I take a deep breath and find myself a little more at ease. However, this reading takes on a whole new meaning for me this advent season. Once again, I realize how ridiculous and ignorant our world is, especially during the Christmas season. How many times are you asked during the day, "Are you ready for Christmas"? Or how many times do you hear or say "I haven't done one bit of Christmas shopping yet! I am stressed out!" The emphasis of the season is about shopping. We put added stress on ourselves by all of the gifts we have to buy, the financial drain of the season, the extra to-do's on our lists. I am reminded through the gospel this morning that God does not put this heavy load on us, we do it to ourselves! When is enough enough? How do we stop this fiasco? God wants nothing more for us this Advent season than to be joyful,relaxed, eager, and patient for His coming. Instead, we are all stressed, sleep deprived, hurried and grouchy! Last night I was racking my brain on how I could pawn off my kids so I could go and get things done. I have a new outlook this morning after meditating on the gospel. I put a little radio in my kitchen yesterday and I am going to smile, listen to christmas music while I make the kids breakfast, embrace the dirty dishes with a smile (grateful that I have dishes to eat on), forget the to-do list and curl up on the couch with the kids and talk about the reason for a Christmas tree. I am going to say a little prayer this morning before I go into Walmart, load those girls on the cart (Ben will be at school), grab some suckers for them to eat on while I do my shopping and just act plain silly while wheeling through Wally-World! To heck with the stress and the to do list! My home made goodies for our neighbors might not taste like Food Network and Santa might not be able to bring all of the toys He was planning but I am determined to make this advent season joyful for me and my family.
Embracing God's yoke and preparing for His Son's arrival is the most important thing we can do as Mothers. Our gift to Jesus this Christmas can be teaching our children the real meaning of Christmas by buying toys for the ones less fortunate, gathering arround the Nativity Scene and talking about the birth of Jesus, joyfully singing "Here Comes Santa Clause" together while driving down the road, and letting the love and joy of Christ radiate through our being to our family and to all we meet during this season. As mothers, most everything starts with our attitudes....if Mama is not happy, ain't nobody happy! When someone asks if we are ready for Christmas, let's all make a plan to say "Why yes! We can hardly wait any longer"! Just watch, people will look at us funny and wonder where the joy is coming from and we can simply say, Jesus!
Blessings to you this Wednesday!
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