Riding on yesterday’s readings, we hear how the Lord our God draws us closer into the intimate relationship He wants to have with us.
Today we hear His name revealed to Moses. He not only intimately shares His name with Moses but also with all of us. He reminds us that He is the God of the living, the Living God, the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob and the God of Isaac. He is our God for all eternity, a loving God who hears our cries. He first sent Moses to free His children and eventually will send His only begotten Son to free us from the bondages of slavery and sin.
On our pilgrim journey home to Him, we will face many obstacles and challenges. But the Lord our God, through His unbreakable promises, will lead us back home to Him. In today’s Gospel, He calls all of us who are weary and burdened to come to Him, and He will give us rest. For that, we should be yoked to Him, yoked to His commands and His will for us. This is what He means when He says, “My burden is light.” This is how we are freed from all sin and sinful distractions. By attaching ourselves to the vine, the source of life, we are connected to Him the very source of life. This is what it means to be in communion with Him.
Thank you, Jesus, for being with me and allowing me to come to you with all my burdens, trials and tribulations. I know you will give me peace and rest. Amen.
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First reading
Exodus 3:13-20
God reveals his name to Moses
Moses, hearing the voice of God coming from the middle of the bush, said to him, ‘I am to go, then, to the sons of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you.” But if they ask me what his name is, what am I to tell them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I Am who I Am. This,’ he added, ‘is what you must say to the sons of Israel: “I Am has sent me to you.”’ And God also said to Moses, ‘You are to say to the sons of Israel: “The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.” This is my name for all time; by this name I shall be invoked for all generations to come.
‘Go and gather the elders of Israel together and tell them, “The Lord, the God of your fathers, has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; and he has said to me: I have visited you and seen all that the Egyptians are doing to you. And so I have resolved to bring you up out of Egypt where you are oppressed, into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land where milk and honey flow.” They will listen to your words, and with the elders of Israel you are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has come to meet us. Give us leave, then, to make a three days’ journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to the Lord our God.” For myself, knowing that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless he is forced by a mighty hand, I shall show my power and strike Egypt with all the wonders I am going to work there. After this he will let you go.’
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Gospel
Matthew 11:28-30
My yoke is easy and my burden light
Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’
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