Msgr. Roger J. Landry
National Director, The Pontifical Mission Societies
Daily Reflection for July 16, 2026
Here is the video of today’s reflection.
The YouTube generated transcript for today’s reflection is:
I am Monsignor Roger Landry, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States. It’s Thursday, July 16th, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and I’m coming to you from Mundelein Seminary in Chicago. Today’s Gospel, Jesus finishes his prayer to the Father, and then makes an invitation to his disciples and apostles and [music] to everyone across the entire globe. He says, “Come to me, all you who labor and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I’m meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.” There’s so much in this brief little passage of the Lord. First, his invitation, he wants us to come. Second, come with our labors and burdens. He often calls us to himself while we’re working, while we’re laboring. That’s how he called Peter, Andrew, James, and John. That’s how he called Matthew from his tax collecting. Work isn’t a stride from our life of faith, but sometimes it’s the real center of our life of faith. That’s why Jesus took on a human profession as a tekton, as a construction worker, as a carpenter. With all your burdens, sometimes we can think our burdens are meant to divide us from the Lord because we think that if we’re a follower of the Lord, everything’s just going to be one unmitigated blessing according to the standards of the world. No, Jesus allows us to have burdens, he allows us to have problems precisely so that they can become blessings when we unite those burdens to him. Our sufferings can make us either better or bitter, depending upon whether we try to endure them in union with Christ or apart from Christ. The devil’s constantly trying to get us to use our sufferings to separate us from the Lord. But, even our crosses are meant to be caresses when we unite them to him. Then he says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn me.” Not just learn from me, but learn me. We know his yoke. A yoke was an ancient harness that would put two animals together so that they would walk in tandem, much like in our own age a three-legged race, which would tie the middle legs of two partners together so that they’d have to walk at the same pace or run. Jesus’ yoke is the cross. It’s what’s supposed to harness us to him for life. When he says, “Take my yoke, my cross upon you and learn me. For I’m meek and humble of heart.” Meek Meek isn’t weak. Meek is so strong that you don’t have to show your strength. Humble means you know exactly who you are, all the blessings God has given, but all the ways we still need his blessings. Who we really are, we’re not puffed up, but we’re also not deflated. We stand before the Lord with all our mistakes, all our sins, but also his blessings. Learn me, who are meek and humble, and you will find rest for yourselves. Because so often we are restless because we want to pretend as if we’re stronger than we are. Or we don’t really want to respond meekly to the challenges that come. Or we’re proud and our pride gets hurt. Whereas he wants us to be humble. Learn me, who are meek and humble of heart, you will find rest for yourselves. The more we learn how Jesus approaches these things, the more we will be refreshed and remade in every circumstance. He says, “For my yoke is easy and my burden light.” His yoke is easy fitting. It’s tailor-made. And when we bear our yoke with the love with which he bore his cross, then we do find that it’s tailor-made and that it is refreshing. Because just like Simon of Cyrene felt, on the other side is the Lord. So we pray for missionaries today. We pray for all seminarians here at Mundelein, that we might all learn the Lord’s lessons and come to him in our labors and our burdens. God bless you.
The Gospel reading on which the reflection was based on:
Gospel
Jesus said:
“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.”