Zec 9:9-10 / Rom 8:9, 11-13 /Mt 11:25-30
The most happening country, at the present moment, is needless to say, Brazil! Because that is where the World Cup is happening!
And even if you are not a football fan, you will see the World Cup logo all around, and of course the country that is hosting it is printed right beneath the logo.
Besides football, Brazil is also famous for other things like coffee, corned beef, samba and the Mardi Gras!
And there is one other thing that Brazil is also famous for. It’s a tourist attraction, a must-see if you ever go to Brazil.
It is that 100-foot, white-coloured statue of Christ the Redeemer and it is located at the peak of the 2300-foot Corcovado mountain.
At such a height, it makes an impressive sight.
It is a symbol of Brazilian Christianity and an icon for the city of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.
Yes, that statue seems to be looking on at Brazil and on the whole world.
And there is also something interesting about that statue. Christ is not nailed to the cross or seated on a throne or in some triumphant posture.
Instead, the statue of Christ the Redeemer is standing straight, with His arms stretched out wide, almost 90 feet apart.
He seems to want to embrace the whole world. Or He seems to be opening His arms in welcome.
Whatever it may be, the statue of Christ the Redeemer depicts one of the most beautiful passages in the gospels, and it is the passage that we have just heard.
Jesus said in today’s gospel: Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.
Oh yes, we surely know what labour is. And we also know about labouring and labouring until we feel so overburdened that we feel so stressed out and feel like giving up on life.
At least those football players in the World Cup know what that is all about.
They are burdened with the pride of their country as they sweat it out for 90 minutes at each match.
They may be highly paid, but they are also highly stressed to perform and to deliver. For them football is not just a game.
And winning is not everything; it is THE only thing. And if they don’t win, then there goes everything.
Yes, a lot of pride is at stake. But that’s where the problem is, and that is also where our problem is.
We huff and puff, and labour and burden ourselves because our pride is at stake.
We want to perform, we want to deliver, we want to be the winner.
And yet Jesus tells us: Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
So when we are stressed with the burdens of life, we just have to turn in humility to Jesus, who will welcome us and embrace us and we will find rest for our souls.
The key to finding rest for our souls is none other than in humility, the direct opposite of pride.
In the modern age of technology where a World Cup match in Brazil can be telecasted “live” on the tv screens and we can see whatever that is happening in “real time”, the telegraph and the Morse code would seem so archaic.
But just about 100 years ago, it was THE means of communication.
Its inventor, Samuel Morse, was asked if during his experiments he ever came to a stage when he didn’t know what to do next.
Humbly and modestly, he replied: Oh yes, more than once. And I must say that it is a matter of which the public knows nothing about. Whenever I could not see my way clearly, I would kneel down and pray to God for light and understanding.
And he added: I had made a valuable application to electricity by inventing the telegraph and the Morse code, not because I was superior to other men, but solely because God who meant it for mankind would reveal it to someone, and He chose to reveal it to me.
Samuel Morse, the great inventor who contributed to modern communication was humble enough to acknowledge that his ideas and inventions came from God.
Only the humble of heart will be blessed by God.
Only the humble of heart will find rest for their souls.
Only the humble of heart will go to Jesus and be welcomed by Him.
And Jesus, like the statue of Christ the Redeemer, will open His arms to welcome us and to embrace us, if we are humble enough to go to Him and tell Him that we need Him.