Come to Me, All You Who are Weary

Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome,
and I will refresh you.
Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble of heart.
Your souls will find rest,
for my yoke is easy and my burden light.
Matthew 11: 28-30

Some days I really need this scripture! Perhaps you do too. Generally, life is good. The days follow, one after the other, without trauma and all is well until, in a flash, it isn’t!It could be for any reason, but suddenly life does become burdensome. Perhaps it is illness, death, a family crisis, a dear friend who needs more than words can offer.

Sometimes pain is more than physical. That is we need to hand the pain to our God. When our lives become too stress filled and we don’t know how to cope where do we turn?Those times when I have been able to give up and give it to God have been the times in my life when I have truly been refreshed. It doesn’t hurt to have my Vincentian family to share the burden too!I know that they will be there with me, as I am with them, in prayer and in deed.

About sharing burdens and being friends:

Vincentians are invited guests in the homes of people who need our friendship. Nobody becomes an instant friend; sometimes it takes several encounters. It always requires that people are comfortable enough to engage with each other. So many of our friends who need us have had negative experiences with government agencies in their offices. That’s one of the best reasons why we don’t call people ‘clients’; rather they are ‘our neighbours, our friends’, and why we visit them in their own homes, unless there is a compelling reason why we cannot do this. The Home Visit is our signature activity because we want to be seen as friends, not another agency. Blessed Rosalie Rendu taught the first members to visit in the homes of their neighbours and from that time until now, it is our way. Blessed Frederic continued to visit homes until he was too ill to continue. Our new President General does home visits when he is not travelling the world. Can I do less?

Visiting homes is not easy. The friends we visit are Christ to us and they bless us, in His name, even when we find the visits challenging.

But what about those who have no homes? Or those whose homes are hostile or even dangerous? The Society in the USA states in their statutes:“Visits to those in need should be made in their environment. . . ” Home visits are the preferred way, but we visit where we can. We go to their places, wherever those places are. We find ways to serve, because no work of charity is foreign to the Society.

By extending the hand of friendship, we try to be Christ to our friends. We pray that they will find the way to the yoke that is easy so that their burdens may become lighter. And we carry on, in His name.

Denise