Daily Readings - Thu Jul 19 2018
Isaiah
7The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth.8Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.9My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.12LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.16LORD, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer.17As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, O LORD.18We were with child, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth; we have not given birth to people of the world.19But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her 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.