Zec. 9:9-10; Ps 1451-2, 8-11, 13-14; Rom. 8:9, 11-13; Mt. 11:25-30

The Lord says, “Come to me…and I will give you rest” by living life in the Spirit.  The Lord invites us to bring him our burdens and learn from him.  The Lord says, “come to me” and he will teach us how to live and never die when “the Spirit of God dwells in you.”  The Spirit of God comes to us from the moment of baptism to be at our side, to lift our burdens and dominate our flesh.  Then we ask, “why do we suffer, why is life burdensome, why do we give into the temptation of the flesh and do what we know not to do and avoid what we need to do?”  We remain a student of the teacher and not always a good student of living life in the Spirit. 

When Jesus appears to his disciples in the upper room his greeting to them is “peace be with you”.  I imagine they were startled, not sure if they were seeing a ghost or a reality and fearful of how to respond.  His greeting however was more than just an effort to calm them down.  It was a gift of peace they were going to need in order to carry forth the mission to come.  The future was not a kingdom of luxury, royalty, or peace as the world defines it.  It was a future of hardship, persecution, hunger, and martyrdom for many.  Few would survive it but none could endure it without having the peace of Christ to trust in the Lord what was to be the “big picture” of salvation. 

The disciples were willing to be instruments of God’s love and focus on doing what Jesus taught them and sent them out to do.  They were obedient to the Lord even unto death unwilling to deny him to the powers of this world.  They received the gift of peace that comes with life in the Spirit. 

I was at a training and the trainer asked us to answer three questions and discuss them at our table.   One of the questions was “what makes you happy?”  As you can imagine and even among your family there are going to be a variety of responses.  We don’t all agree with what makes us happy and answers can vary from “a cold beer on a hot day” to “family, friends, or going on vacation”.  When we look to happiness, we look to tangible things we can touch, see, feel, taste.  We seek happiness in the exterior life where it tends not to last forever.  Even family and friends pass away and then what?  

When it was my turn to respond to the “happiness” question I said “to be at peace”.  We all know the famous quote from St. Augustine who said, “we are restless until we rest in Thee oh God”.   This restlessness is more than an uneasiness, it is a search for purpose and peace.  It drives us to keep searching.  The disciple knew their purpose and so they were at peace even in the midst of hardship.  We find both in God but we often seek it in the exterior life where it is transitory and we can never hold on to it.  Not money, fame, or power brings peace, not to our lives or to this world.  It comes as a gift from God that opens us up to life in the Spirit so that all things are then for his glory and our eternal peace, joy, and love. 

To live life in the Spirit is not this automated artificial intelligence as robots or puppets where God pulls all the strings and we respond without freedom.  Life in the Spirit is freedom as we grow in the spirit of God.  The Sacramental life is there to teach us from the moment of baptism with the coming of the Holy Spirit but it is only a beginning.  We must be fed from the body and blood of Christ through Holy Communion.  We must accept the invitation by our own free will in confirmation and we must continue to grow in faith, hope and love and all the Cardinal virtues in living life in the Spirit of God.  Most of all we must come to him in a loving relationship to be his own children. 

How is our relationship with our God, King of kings, and Lord of lords this day?  When was the last time we invited God to come to us and be “my Lord and my God”?  It is to be a daily invitation to God that he remains in us and reveal himself to us as we go about doing and living our God given purpose.  Life in the Spirit is an active life of love of God and love of neighbor.  It is a life filled with decisions to make.  The decision to come to Mass or not, to be patient or get upset, to seek righteousness or allow injustice, to be a peacemaker or a rebel rouser.  Life is filled with choices but we are remined that the choice we make, makes us who we are.  We desire to be better then come to the Lord to find the choice that comes from God. 

When I was going into middle school, I had a major decision to make that would determine my future for the next six years.  It was going to be football or band because in those days both were not allowed in school.  I turned to my mother for advice hoping to get some guidance.  I considered my mother a woman of wisdom, always giving advice to people and many of my cousins referred to her as “mama Chela” for her motherly ways.  The last thing I expected was for her to look at me and say “You will have to decide.”  That was it, that was all she said.  I was going to have to make this decision, own it and live with it.  Her job was to help me grow and prepare me to make difficult decisions and this was going to be one of them.  In life a parent prepares their children to make choices, especially because as a parent we are not always there when our children have to make a choice in life. 

Jesus was often referred to as “teacher”.  He prepared his disciples with many lessons for three years knowing the day was coming when he would leave them and they would have to look back and remember the lessons learned and follow his teaching.  Jesus also promised them and us he would send the Holy Spirit to discern the will of God and unite our will to his that we may be one with him.  This is our comforter but we too in the end have to make the choice to accept the teaching, to follow, or to go our way.  Life in the Spirit is the way. 

I saw a picture on Facebook of a little girl looking very stern and pointing a finger out.  On top are the words “Don’t worry about dying, you will live forever.”  Then on the bottom it says, “All you have to worry about is Location, Location, Location.”  Heaven, purgatory or hell and purgatory is the final cleansing of our souls to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.  You will have to decide the road you take but in the end the road you choose makes your destination.  Life is a choice, choose wisely!  The Lord’s love is for us to be in heaven.