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Gospel: Matthew 11: 28-30
Jesus said to the crowds:
“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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Some years ago, a story went viral about a lost sheep named Shrek.
Shrek lived an otherwise ordinary life until he became separated from his shepherd. For six long years, he wandered the hills of New Zealand alone, often resting at night in cold, rocky caves.
Without his shepherd to shear his wool, Shrek’s coat ballooned to sixty pounds, six times the average weight a sheep normally carries. That’s enough wool to make 20 adult suits!
After he was found, it took Shrek’s shepherd about 20 minutes to shear all of that excess wool. Imagine that – six years of weight lifted in a matter of minutes.
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There’s something arrestingly human about that.
Like Shrek, how often do we carry around unnecessary weight, even five or six times what we actually need to carry?
We can hide our emotions, bury our grief, or lug around years of unnecessary guilt, leaving us with an arthritic spirit. Why not just let it go?
“Come to me, all of you who are heavy burdened,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “and I will give you rest.” This command – “come to me” – implies movement. We must be on the go, leaving the cave we may find ourselves in, leaning into the arms of our shepherd.
Only then can Jesus do what he does best: shear our “wool” and lift our burdens.
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This is true not only in prayer, but also in confession, when the Lord forgives – and forgets – our sins.
Today, may we allow ourselves to be found, leaving what no longer serves us behind.
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Image credits: (1) Love Letter Daily (2) your love.blog (3) Business Insider