Commentary on the Gospel of
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
We are on this Advent journey, one that is leading us towards the Christ Child on Christmas morning. The journey can be laborious and hard to navigate. There is much to do, especially this time of year as the semester ends, the days are shorter, preparations for Christmas are upon us. At this time of year, I feel worn down and weary when I am not stopping to reflect and spend time with God. When I try to rely on my own strength, my own schedule, my own abilities alone, I feel defeated and exhausted. And, I am the mother of a four month old infant, so the weariness and tiredness can feel even more pronounced. It can feel I am doing it all on my own.
Yes, our readings offer me, and all of us, a different way. Jesus encourages us to join him, by saying “take my yoke upon you and learn from me….you will find rest…my yoke is easy and my burden light.” He yearns to be with us and for us to collaborate with him in our daily work and our daily lives.
Perhaps, today, we can offer ourselves, our meetings, our tasks and our struggles to him, in a little bit of a deeper way. Let us be like “they who hope in the Lord will renew their strength,…they will run and not grow weary” as our first reading from Isaiah in the Advent theme, reminds us. I invite us today, in our own way, to accept this invitation to collaborate, to share the burden, to hope and to rest in God. For me, the encouragement is in a few extra moments of prayer and thanksgiving in the middle of the night, as I awake to comfort and feed my little infant son…that this journey is shared with and led-by God. And that makes all the difference!
On this Feast of Saint Ambrose, let us pray for the leaders of our Church, especially the bishops. We pray that they may lead us in a Christ-like example of trusting in the Lord in our daily lives during this Advent season and always.
