Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19 / Matthew 11:28-30
In the prayers for the deceased, we often hear these phrases "eternal rest" and "rest in peace".
When understood literally, it means that the departed have finally come to rest from their journey in this world, and they are freed from the anxieties and worries of this life. That is one way of understanding the word "rest".
When Jesus said in the gospel, "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest." we may immediately think of physical rest.
Indeed, the anxieties and worries of life have taken their toil on us physically and we yearn for a good night's rest in the comfort of our beds.
But spiritually, we also yearn for a rest for our hearts more than we yearn for physical rest. Our hearts need to rest in peace.
And Jesus wants to give us that peace because the meaning of rest is to go to Jesus and have our hearts re-created into His image and likeness so that our hearts can be like His.
As the 1st reading puts it: Lord, you are giving us peace. With peace in our hearts, then we will understand what the 1st readings means when it says: The path of the upright man is straight, you smooth the way of the upright. Following the path of your judgements, we hoped in you, Lord, your name and your memory are all my soul desires.
So even though our bodies may be resting, the 1st reading says: At night my soul longs for you and my spirit in me seeks for you.
Yes, our hearts will not be at rest until they find their rest in the heart of Jesus. Then like Jesus we will be humble and gentle of heart. Then we find that the yoke and the burdens of life will be light.