Daily Readings - Thu Jul 19 2018
Isaiah
7The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous.8In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.9My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.12O LORD, you will ordain peace for us; you have done for us all our works.16O LORD, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them.17Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O LORD;18we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.19Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
Sermon
The first reading from Isaiah speaks of the journey of the just, who endure hardships while trusting in God’s plan. The prophet describes the soul’s deep longing for God, even in the midst of tribulation. He uses the metaphor of a woman in labor to convey the struggle of waiting for salvation, but he also offers hope: the dead shall rise, and the light of God’s dew shall bring new life. The passage reminds us that our efforts, though they may seem futile, are part of God’s larger plan, and true peace comes from Him alone.
In the Gospel, Jesus extends an invitation to all who are weary and burdened: “Come to me, and I will refresh you.” He promises that His yoke is easy and His burden light. This is not a call to escape life’s challenges but to face them with a different perspective—one rooted in trust and humility. Jesus, the meek and humble of heart, offers us rest for our souls, not by removing our struggles, but by walking with us through them.
Today’s readings remind us that faith is not about avoiding difficulty but about trusting God in the midst of it. Like the just in Isaiah, we are called to endure with patience and hope, knowing that God’s plan is at work. And like those who take up Christ’s yoke, we are invited to find rest in Him, even as we carry our crosses. Let us turn to God in our struggles, trusting that He will bring light and life out of darkness and labor. In Him, we find the strength to persevere and the hope to rise anew.