It is when we allow ourselves to be little, the Lord comes close: “He gives us peace; he makes us grow.”

This Sunday’s liturgy reminds us that we are being asked to do more than just “show up” at the banquet to which we have been invited.

Jesus opens his heart to embrace the heaviness that we carry in ours; he doesn’t take away our cross, but he labors with us. And this is how burdens become light: because he carries them with us.

If we are sinners in need of forgiveness, how could we possibly presume to judge others?

It is Jesus, the “Face of the Father’s Mercy”, who offers renewal and reconciliation to those who are willing to acknowledge our need for forgiveness and mercy.