This weekend we return to the Sundays of ordinary time – notice the green vestment. We also get back to St. Matthew’s Gospel. Between now and Thanksgiving we will hear from St. Matthew’s Gospel. The words of Jesus in this week’s Gospel are a prayer and an invitation. Since it is Independence Day weekend, we reflect on how the invitation of Jesus, “Come to me you who labor and are burdened,” parallels the words on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free.” As our ancestors came to this country to seek a new life, many of them came to be free of the burdens they experienced in their homelands. This new country provided new freedoms, especially a spiritual freedom. Freedom of religion in our country allows us to choose where and how we will worship God. Exercising this right makes our country and our faith stronger.
As we gather around the altar of the Lord we remember how our heavenly Father was revealed to us through Jesus who paid the ultimate price for us and our spiritual freedom. With no fireworks, only the work of our hands, with no picnics, only bread and wine, with no parades, only a Communion procession, we remember Jesus. We might not label him a hero, but his words and actions have truly set us free. As we gather to celebrate our nation’s birthday and our nation’s freedoms let us also remember how our Lord lifts our burdens and makes us free.
