Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest

12 DECEMBER (Mt 11,28-30)

No man of the Old Law was ever proposed as a person to be imitated. The elder was to be heard, because the he was the bearer of a rich teaching of wisdom; however, he never asked for imitation. He was only a source of instruction.

My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands, Turning your ear to wisdom, inclining your heart to understanding; Yes, if you call to intelligence, and to understanding raise your voice; If you seek her like silver, and like hidden treasures search her out: Then will you understand the fear of the Lord; the knowledge of God you will find; For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; He has counsel in store for the upright, he is the shield of those who walk honestly, Guarding the paths of justice, protecting the way of his pious ones. Then you will understand rectitude and justice, honesty, every good path; For wisdom will enter your heart, knowledge will please your soul, Discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you; Saving you from the way of evil men, from men of perverse speech, Who leave the straight paths to walk in the way of darkness, Who delight in doing evil, rejoice in perversity; Whose ways are crooked, and devious their paths; Saving you from the wife of another, from the adulteress with her smooth words, Who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the pact with her God; For her path sinks down to death, and her footsteps lead to the shades; None who enter thereon come back again, or gain the paths of life. Thus you may walk in the way of good men, and keep to the paths of the just. For the upright will dwell in the land, the honest will remain in it; But the wicked will be cut off from the land, the faithless will be rooted out of it. (Pr 2,1-22).

On the contrary, who sought imitation was the Lord. He was to be imitated in holiness, that is, in his universal love to all, without any distinction.

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Revere your mother and father, and keep my Sabbaths. I, the Lord, am your God. “Do not turn aside to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I, the Lord, am your God. “You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor. You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your day laborer. You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the Lord. “You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. “When an alien resides with you in your land, do not molest him. You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt. I, the Lord, am your God. Be careful, then, to observe all my statutes and decrees. I am the Lord.” (Cf. Lev 19,1-37).
The holiness of God is heavenly, divine, supernatural and eternal holiness. The holiness of Jesus Christ is instead historical, embodied, human, of his body, his soul, his spirit, his heart and his mind. It is a holiness in suffering, in persecution, martyrdom, scorn and in humiliations. It is a holiness of cross.

“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 your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Jesus comes to teach every man to get in obedience to his true Lord and God and be faithful to him till death on a cross. Even on the cross he must find refreshment. He finds it if he lives in meekness and humility. If he sees in everything the fulfillment of God’s will and does everything as a strong, committed man, submitting to all injustice and enduring everything for the sake of his God. With Jesus a new world is born: the world of no rebellion, no revenge, of yielding, of the cross, of the passion and of suffering for love.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints teach us these virtues.