Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Praise be Jesus Christ.
See, in the Alleluia verse taken from the Gospel,
it says,
One of the few times, maybe the only time,
that our Lord refers directly to his sacred heart in the Gospel.
It says,
It says,
Here he presents to us two virtues which we ought to practice
in imitation of Jesus.
His sacred heart.
That of meekness and that of humility.
And he calls this a yoke.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.
That is, these virtues are difficult to practice.
No easy thing.
There are so many people who come to me
lamenting that they have difficulty with the contrary vices.
Anger and pride.
But the thing is this.
Like many, maybe we can say all sins,
there's an immediate gratification.
Giving way to our anger.
Giving way to our pride.
But eventually, giving way to our anger
and giving way to our pride
is a greater burden.
Our Lord follows this up by saying,
And you shall find rest.
For your souls.
So by taking his yoke,
we are going to find rest for our souls.
Because the yoke of sin is heavier
and harder to bear.
It presents an immediate gratification.
An immediate release.
Someone vents their anger,
they take a sigh of relief.
But then they have the remorse of conscience.
To deal with.
They have all of the difficulties
that are a result of them giving way to their anger.
To deal with.
And then that becomes a great burden.
And sin builds upon sin.
They go from abyss to abyss.
Dig a pit for themselves.
And life becomes always more difficult.
But if we choose the sweet yoke of Christ,
that of virtue, meekness and humility,
which at first is difficult to practice.
When we feel anger boiling up inside of us.
Or our pride is wounded by someone's words or actions.
It's difficult.
We have to control ourselves.
Watch and pray.
And suppress that anger within us.
And that's a yoke to bear.
It's difficult.
But,
after time,
it gets easier and easier.
And we are rewarded with peace of soul.
As our Lord says,
and you shall find rest to your souls.
That peace and happiness,
which we ultimately seek.
So let's be generous.
And take upon our shoulders the sweet yoke of Christ.
Strive to live these virtues of meekness and humility.
And when we find ourselves in times of temptation and difficulty,
we need to say that prayer.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
make my heart like your heart.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen!
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen!
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.