“Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.”    Matthew 11:28-30 (TEV) 

When you find yourself tired and exhausted, approach Our Lord confidently, as that good friend of ours did, and say: “Jesus, see what you can do about it. Even before I begin to fight, I am already tired.” He will give you his strength. (1)

It’s Monday morning and I am sitting in the office after a very tiring weekend.  I am looking at 2 back-breaking days of work, then going on a retreat where I am still “pastor”.

To be honest, all I want to do is crawl back into bed, relax, and rest and know that He is God.  Gladly let Him rule the universe today, I just want to go back to sleep!   (oh wait – ruling the universe includes me… drats!)

There is little difference between the words of Jesus, and the words of St. Josemarie Escriva.  Indeed, the passage in Matthew came to mind as I closed my devotions this morning with a few similar quotes on pessimism from the book “The Forge”   There is a reason I posted them both, one – to show Jesus commanding us, asking us, to depend on Him, to call upon Him, not just for the forgiveness of sins, but for the strength to endure, even to endure Mondays.  We need to know that Christianity is more about Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, not because we have to be holy all that time (which would be nice) but because God is with us, all that time.

Which is why I put the quote from the Forge.  Having read about the challenges and endurance of a priest caught between wars, challenged by those who valued the system more than the ones it was created to serve, who served sacrificially and diligently and to the point of exhaustion, that  it is encouraging to hear him advise us to ask God for the help GOd promised.  My theory is that we are encouraged by the priest to do this, because it is where he found the strength to do what he did.  To do the work of the gospel, to encourage and train and shepherd people, and to train shepherds, he needed a strength that would empower him through the midst of the tiredness, the exhaustion.

If he experienced the yoke being easy, the burden being light, as he walked with Jesus, if he pointed to those who’ve gone before doing the same thing, if I can think of people in my own generation who walk with Christ – and find the strength to get it done, I know Jesus will be faithful and get me through this day… and the dreaded tuesday.

Jesus commits Himself to fulfill this promise in Matthew.  History and so many saints have testified to Him keeping His promise, in situations more grave than a Monday.  To make that burden easy, to make our work light.  Maybe your exhausted, mentally, physically, spiritually.  You’ve got a case of Monday-itis. and you’ve got it so bad.. that you don’t even have the strength to feel guilty about it. Realize God is with you, empowering you, and lean on Him rather than trying to do it yourself.  Enjoy His presence, and the work… it will get done.

Cry out, “Lord have Mercy”, and know His is with you….even on Monday

(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1029-1031). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.