Thursday, July 17, 2025
Ex 3:13-20; Mt 11:28-30
Today’s Gospel highlights Jesus’ compassion toward the least in the society.
Jesus’ compassionate statement contains three insights for our reflection.
1. Invitation to the Least: ‘Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened’ is an invitation not to the privileged and the rich but to the wearied and exhausted. In Jesus’ time, the Law of God was made a burden for ordinary people with additional regulations that the rabbis often spoke of ‘the yoke of the Law,’ which served as a metaphor for religious obligations. But Jesus extends his invitation to those that were condemned by human-made regulations and includes them in all generosity.
2. To Come as They Are: If we read the passage closely, the invitation is to come as they are and not as they should be. In other words, Jesus does not call the qualified but qualifies those who he calls. Jesus’ invitation also explains the work of God’s grace. In theological parlance, Jesus’ invitation signifies the core of the doctrine of justification and sanctification by which we understand that God receives the sinner in mercy and transforms us through grace. The love of Jesus includes all who are alienated in society.
3. Easy Yoke and Light Burden: Just as the expressions ‘easy yoke’ and ‘light burden’ look oxymoronic, the invitation by Jesus, who promises to ease our burden, looks paradoxical because he invites us to ‘take his yoke upon us.’ How can we understand Jesus’ invitation? Here, by ‘yoke,’ Jesus refers to our discipleship. However, unlike other systems that promote inequality, a life of discipleship is bound up in grace, not guilt and in relationship, not ritual. To put it simply, Jesus does not add weight by his yoke but lifts ours.
In an age like ours, which cries out to us constantly, ‘Prove yourself,’ Jesus says, ‘Come to me as you are.’
Jesus’ compassion knew no bounds.
Let us pray that we may imitate Jesus in his compassion.
Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar
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re bloggar 17 juli 20025
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Friends, my team and I just arrived in northern France to document the great spiritual power of the Gothic cathedrals. I look forward to sharing more with you soon about this exciting Word on Fire project—stay tuned! https://pic.x.com/LCBdPEZel2
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says Mary is the solution to solving toxic feminism and calls out protehttps://x.com/BishopBarronstants for not giving enough reverence to the Mother of God.”Mary is the solution.”@charliekirk11
https://x.com/CforCatholics/status/1945638525103476858/video/1
Att inte döma
” Jesus sade: ”Inte heller jag dömer dig.”
Att inte döma kan ju också vara att förlåta.
Att ha Gud är vårt föredöme och följa hans exempel kan vara svårt för vi är alla bara människor, men vi kan i alla fall försöka att efterlikna Gud. Vi kan alla göra det vi kan för att världen ska bli en bättre och en kärleksfullare plats.
När Jesus Kristus uttryckligen säger inte heller jag dömer dig. När vi hör dessa underbara ord kan det aldrig finnas en gräns för vår förlåtelse. Men visst, det känns fel och vi blir oftast rädd för att förlåta för att det kanske uppmuntrar mobben som vill störa oss att fortsätta. Men det är vi, du och jag, som kan känna den typen av rädsla. Gud känner aldrig rädsla. Vi vet ju alla att Gud låter solen gå upp för god likväl för ond. Guds sol ler mot alla.
Men vi är dock människor och mänskliga och det finns något som heter integritet vi måste värna om. Vi kan självklart inte tillåta vilka kränkningar som helst. Vi vet ju alla av erfarenhet att vi människor kan vara elaka mot varandra både psykiskt och fysiskt. Men något vi alla ska veta och förstå är att Gud inte är som oss människor. Gud vänder och vrider på allt och går sin egen väg och vill lära oss att förlåta är att handla i kärlek. Jag tror Gud vill lära oss att vi ska sätta gränser och tänka på vår integritet men också sträva efter förlåtelse.
Men den personliga integriteten är viktig och något vi måste slå vakt om. Det gör något med oss när vi bygger upp en inre sfär av respekt för den vi är. Jag tror att Gud vill lära oss att vi har rätt att bestämma över vår egen kropp. Han vill att vi ska lära oss att tänka fritt och att känslor är våra känslor och något vi ska värna om. Gud vill inte att vi ska acceptera kränkande eller oönskade ingrepp vad det än må vara.
Men om vi har Gud som ett föredöme, Gud som föredöme? Guds kärlek är ju gränslös hur skulle vi någonsin kunna komma upp i den nivån? Men jag tror att ordet vilja är ett viktigt ord i detta sammanhang. Allt börjar med en vilja att ha Gud som föredöme och i detta fall, viljan att förlåta. Viljan att försöka sprida lite av Guds godhet och kärlek. Viljan att förlåta är också en vilja att vrida om vår inre ljusknapp från av till på. Det är här Gud kommer in och vill visa oss på att förlåtelsen gör något med oss. När vi ser på gamla oförrätter som vi blivit utsatta för eller som vi har utsatt andra för, när vi låter dessa bli liggande i vårt inre gnager de sönder oss och blir till surdegar som fördärvar det Gud vill göra med oss. Det vi går och bär på blir något som hindra Gud från att arbeta med och för oss. Därför är det viktigt att vi åtminstone försöker att inte döma utan istället förlåta våra medmänniskor och kanske det viktigaste, att inte var för hård och dömande mot oss själva.
Att inte döma är väl egentligen något av kyrkans grundtanke. Kyrkan är väl en plats där Guds förlåtelse blir som vatten för vår törstande själ. Vatten är nödvändigt för allt känt liv. Förlåtelsen från Gud är som vatten som renar oss och ger oss livet tillbaka. Vi är syndiga och mänskliga och kan inte vara perfekta men vi ska hela tiden komma till Gud med bön om förlåtelse. Om vi har fått den insikten att vi är förlåtna av Gud för våra felsteg och övertramp så förstår vi också att vi måste förlåta och inte döma andra. Ögonen öppnas på oss när vi ser hur vår synd möter Guds barmhärtighet. När vi tvättar oss i Siloadammen öppnas våra ögon och vi får synen tillbaka. När vi har Gud som förebild och inte dömer utan förlåter gör det något med vårt inre öga. Det öppnar vindskupan så att frisk och fräsch luft kan strömma in och jaga ut all unken luft så att vi kan andas igen, så att säga.
Guds kärlek kommer att vara bestående eftersom den är och kommer alltid att vara mycket större än människans ovilja att sluta upp med sina dumheter, oviljan att sluta synda mot Gud. Det finns något av himlens härlighet bland oss då vi slutar döma varandra och istället förlåter. Vi sprider frön från Gud om vi har ett förlåtande sinnelag. När vi slutar upp att döma med nedsättande ord, skvaller, rykten, förtal, överdrifter och istället väljer att vilja ha Gud som förebild. När vi väljer att inte döma utan förlåta väljer vi att vandra med Gud i vardagen.
” Jesus sade: ”Inte heller jag dömer dig. Gå nu, och synda inte mer.” Amen.
Roland Persson
17 jul 2025
Airstrike hits Gaza’s only Catholic church, injures priest
Nuns in front of Holy Family Church, Gaza City
Anas-Mohammed | Shutterstock
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Daniel Esparza – published on 07/17/25
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The church, the only Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip, sustained visible damage in what witnesses described as a tank shelling.
This is a developing story; updates include Pope Leo’s remarks.
In the early hours of Thursday, July 17, airstrikes struck the Holy Family Catholic Church in northern Gaza, injuring several people, including the parish priest, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli. The church, the only Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip, sustained visible damage in what witnesses described as a tank shelling.
The Israeli military has not issued an official statement regarding the incident.
Fr. Romanelli, an Argentine priest with deep pastoral ties to the community, was wounded in the leg. He is known for his close friendship with the late Pope Francis, who often phoned the parish during the war to offer encouragement and prayers.
In fact, during the last 18 months of his pontificate, the pope maintained regular contact with the church, concerned for the lives of the hundreds sheltering inside.
Gaza
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem | © lpg.org
Pope Leo XIV sent a message through his Secretary of State, assuring his spiritual closeness and prayer.
“His Holiness renews his call for an immediate ceasefire, and he expresses his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation, and enduring peace in the region,” the message concluded.
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
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بيان صحفي أولي من البطريركية اللاتينية – Press Release of Latin Patriarchate
10:30 AM · Jul 17, 2025
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Thursday’s strike is the latest in the long and tragic chain of attacks in Gaza, where war has left no sanctuary untouched. The Holy Family Church has become a fragile haven for hundreds of civilians — Christians and Muslims alike — seeking refuge from the violence.
Aid to the Church in Need noted:
Just a few days ago, in a video message sent to pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Fr. Romanelli warned about the deteriorating situation.
“The situation at the municipality remains very, very serious,” he said. “The bombings continue, as you know, in Rafah, in the south of the Strip, but also in the north — the area of Jabalia and other places as well. Another day of war — another hour of war — continues to complicate the lives of tens and hundreds of thousands of people.”
In December 2023, two women were shot leaving the church and walking to the adjoining convent of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa’s nuns.
Gaza’s priest: “We rely above all on Adoration”
Read also :
Gaza’s priest: “We rely above all on Adoration”
Wartime policy
The attack on Holy Family Church raises renewed questions about the protection of religious and civilian sites during wartime. Under international humanitarian law, places of worship and hospitals are to be safeguarded unless used for military purposes — a point of frequent dispute in this conflict.
Still, for Gaza’s Christian minority — one of the oldest in the world — this latest attack is not just physical destruction, but spiritual heartbreak. The Holy Family parish is a symbol of endurance and communion, a light in an area long plunged into darkness.
As the world watches and prayers rise, the Church calls again for peace—not as a political slogan, but as a human necessity.
For updates on humanitarian efforts in Gaza or to help, visit caritas.org or lpj.org.
UN visits Gaza Catholic parish; Caritas decries ‘starve or be shot’
Read also :
UN visits Gaza Catholic parish; Caritas decries ‘starve or be shot’
Pope Leo: Cries of Gaza’s mothers and fathers reach Heaven
Read also :
Pope Leo: Cries of Gaza’s mothers and fathers reach Heaven
Remarkable novena for Holy Land peace: Carmel to Charbel
Read also :
Remarkable novena for Holy Land peace: Carmel to Charbel
Come to Me: Matthew 11:25-30
vhoagland
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At that time Jesus said in reply,* “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
There’s new interest today in the founders of my country: Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin. New biographies and media presentations, present their struggles to bring our country to birth in trying circumstances. Yes, they had clay feet, like all of us. They could be vain, deceitful, wrong-headed and trapped in the limited vision of their time. So are we. But they were also brave, idealistic, courageous, patient, willing to sacrifice for the unknown. We hope to imitate them.
They tell the story that General Washington after the war met with a number of his disgruntled troops, who hadn’t been paid or rewarded by the Continental Congress for their long years of hard service. The ex-soldiers were angry, on the brink of another revolution.
Washington took out a paper to address the troops, but he couldn’t read it. His eyesight was failing him. So he put on a pair of spectacles. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” he said, “ but I have lost my sight in the service of my country. “
No one remembered what Washington said that day, but the mood of the men changed. They remembered what this man had gone through.
It’s important to honor our heroes, to keep them in mind. We’re living in an unfinished world, an unfinished church and an unfinished country. They lived that way too. We must learn from them how to do what we are given to do.
In the gospel today, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest…Learn from me.”
He is the Great Hero. Remember his story: his poor birth, his love for those with little, his assurances of God’s care, his cruel death and then his resurrection. With our labors and burdens, we come to rest in him, to learn from him, to share his life and be refreshed.
He is the Bread of the Strong, so that in our time we can be strong.john doderer
john doderer
18 juli 2024
Amen, Fr Victor! Amen. Let us remember our Savior and the conditions of His life!
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Gilla
cenaclemary12
cenaclemary12
18 juli 2024
Shoulder to shoulder we plow ahead,
Furrowing life soil with potential.
From early morn until dawn,
Working to achieve goals substantial.
Lend a hand, bend an ear,
Give courage to weak ones.
Ask God’s help to be near,
To bestow peaceful rest.
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Gilla
hskwave
hskwave
18 juli 2024
Oh, Father Victor, how I needed to be reminded of this Gospel reading! And your commentary lifts my spirit from the doldrums of the pundits and the day’s news reports, and sets me back on the path of hope and resolve to write those postcards and speak with confidence to make sure our country continues on the right path.
I loved th
Come to Me!
Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar
Fr. Dhinakaran SavariyarGospel Delights
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Thursday, July 17, 2025
Ex 3:13-20; Mt 11:28-30
Today’s Gospel highlights Jesus’ compassion toward the least in the society.
Jesus’ compassionate statement contains three insights for our reflection.
1. Invitation to the Least: ‘Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened’ is an invitation not to the privileged and the rich but to the wearied and exhausted. In Jesus’ time, the Law of God was made a burden for ordinary people with additional regulations that the rabbis often spoke of ‘the yoke of the Law,’ which served as a metaphor for religious obligations. But Jesus extends his invitation to those that were condemned by human-made regulations and includes them in all generosity.
2. To Come as They Are: If we read the passage closely, the invitation is to come as they are and not as they should be. In other words, Jesus does not call the qualified but qualifies those who he calls. Jesus’ invitation also explains the work of God’s grace. In theological parlance, Jesus’ invitation signifies the core of the doctrine of justification and sanctification by which we understand that God receives the sinner in mercy and transforms us through grace. The love of Jesus includes all who are alienated in society.
3. Easy Yoke and Light Burden: Just as the expressions ‘easy yoke’ and ‘light burden’ look oxymoronic, the invitation by Jesus, who promises to ease our burden, looks paradoxical because he invites us to ‘take his yoke upon us.’ How can we understand Jesus’ invitation? Here, by ‘yoke,’ Jesus refers to our discipleship. However, unlike other systems that promote inequality, a life of discipleship is bound up in grace, not guilt and in relationship, not ritual. To put it simply, Jesus does not add weight by his yoke but lifts ours.
In an age like ours, which cries out to us constantly, ‘Prove yourself,’ Jesus says, ‘Come to me as you are.’
Jesus’ compassion knew no bounds.
Let us pray that we may imitate Jesus in his compassion.
Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar
The post Come to Me! first appeared on Gospel Delights.