"Come To Me"

Today's Gospel is the familiar, beloved, consoling and encouraging:  "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened...." (Mt 11:28-30).  It always seems to appear somewhere at a time when we need to hear these words, for, as it seems, as soon as one burden is lifted, another takes its place.  The invitation from Jesus to come to him never grows old or cold.
Fittingly this Gospel is read today on the Memorial of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native Amrican saint, who lived in upstate New York and then near Montreal.  She converted to Catholicism at the age of 17, and despite the many burdens she carried, a scarred face and poor vision from smallpox, "exile" for choosing virginity over marriage, and certainly for being a Catholic, her heart glowed with love of Jesus, especially in the Eucharist.  She would walk for miles and wait at the door of the church for the priest to arrive.  She was devoted to helping the elderly and sickly and died at the young age of 24 (like St. Therese of Lisieux) in 1680. She embraced this invitation and learned that Jesus indeed lifts burdens and gives needed rest from our labors. St. Kateri, help us to learn as you did to come to Jesus often during the day.
Bro. Rene