Today’s reading from Matthew’s gospel is quite a contrast to what we’ve been hearing Jesus say lately. For most of the last few weeks, Jesus has been talking about the cost of discipleship – the certainty of persecution, conflict, suffering and painful division for those who choose to follow him. “Leave it all behind, pick…

“Come to me, all you that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” It didn’t help that…

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Come…

Several weeks ago on a gray afternoon in June, tourists in Tewkesbury Abbey in England experienced something rather unusual. A pure, clear, child’s voice floated in the dim light. It reached into every corner, every chapel and chantry. No matter where you were, you could hear it. It seemed to come out of nowhere and…

There was once a time when any of us going to a service of Holy Communion in an Episcopal Church might hear some of Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel. “Come to me all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Or, in a slightly older form of the English…

By now, the gardens that people planted in the spring have begun to bear fruit. Into the wet, dark earth went the little seeds, some of them looking like what they would be when they grew, like the beans; others almost too small to see, like the lettuce seeds. A profound gesture of hope, the…