When times are tough, turn to Jesus, Pope says

Vatican City, Jul 9, 2017 / 06:08 am

When life gets hard, Jesus especially invites us to turn to him, Pope Francis said.

"Jesus knows how hard life can be," Pope Francis said.

But at those moments, his invitation is: "Come."

The Pope made his remarks to the audience gathered in St. Peter's Square for his Sunday Angelus address. He based his reflections on the day's Gospel passage in Matthew: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

It can be easy to be tempted to turn in on ourselves when things are going badly, Pope Francis said. But Jesus wants to pull us out of this despairing "quicksand" through a loving relationship.

We might be tempted to find our rest in other things of this world, the Pope said, but those things are like fireworks, which burn out quickly.

We must learn to turn outside of ourselves during our times of need, but even this is not enough - we have to know where to go, he said, which must be to Jesus, who says "Come to me."

However, if we go to Jesus expecting that he will instantly fix all of our problems, we are looking for the wrong thing, he said.

"Jesus does not take the Cross away from us," the Pope said. "Rather, he carries it with us."

He helps us bear our burdens and gives us peace of heart even in the most difficult moments of life, the Holy Father said.

We know this because Jesus himself repeats it in the Gospel reading today: "Learn from me…and you will find rest for your life."

He never says that the burden goes away, but that "my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

"Let us learn to go to Jesus," Pope Francis said. "And while, in these summer months, we seek some respite from those things that weary the body, let us not forget to find true rest in the Lord."