Coming and Going...

WORD 2day - Thursday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 20, 2023: Exodus 3: 13-20; Matthew 11: 28-30 

The Word that dominates the first reading today is 'Go'... Yahweh sends Moses to the Pharaoh. The term that stands out in the short but sweet Gospel of today is, 'Come'... the Lord invites the burdened to rest. Come and Go... may look like two opposite words but the reason given for both the movements is the same: because I am with you, says the Lord.

Coming and going... refer to the docility of the chosen, the willingness and readiness with which a messenger of the Lord vows to act. Going anywhere mattered nothing to the prophets of old or for the apostles in the New Testament... they just went, where the Lord sent them to. Added to that, it did not sound a "sending" according to them; it meant an invitation, "come", "come, be mine!", "come, be me where I send you!". That remains the same even today, even with us.

Every day and in ways mysterious or means ordinary, the Lord keeps sending us these instructions: come, go, speak, share, remain, endure and so on... are we prepared to listen and eager to act upon it? When we do it, there is bound to be a myriad of struggles and endless strife... but the Lord will give us the strength, make the yoke easy and the burden light. Easy and light, because the Lord is with us!