A young man called his fiancé and told her that he urgently needed to speak with her about something important. She replied it was a coincidence, because she also had something important to tell him. A while later they met, and he said to her, "When we became engaged, we agreed always to be truthful with each other. Therefore, I have to tell you that I have changed my mind about us. I can’t marry you. Then he asked her what the important something was that she wanted to tell him. She replied, "I won the lottery."

When we come together, as we are now, with Jesus in our midst, there is always something of the utmost importance he wants to tell us, if only we are like the "little ones" that Jesus speaks of in today’s gospel. He says he will reveal things that until now have remained hidden. It will be easier, he says, for children to accept these things, than the learned and the clever. Those with child-like simplicity and humility, who are simple of heart, who see purely, without pretense, and acknowledge their dependence and trust in the one who is greater, wiser, and more trustworthy. They seek one thing only – the "greatest good," which is God, himself. What Jesus is referring to, is for us to have an awareness of the kingdom of God present among us.

Do you know that if you put a Buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet, and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner? The reason is that a Buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 - 12 feet before it gets airborne.  Without space to run, as is its norm, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail, which has no top.

The ordinary bat that flies around at night is a remarkably nimble creature in the air, but it cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or on flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, it takes off in a flash.

A bumble bee, if dropped into an ordinary open drinking glass, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but keeps on trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will look for a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumble bee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is ..... look up. To look up and see Jesus. He says to us, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

Jesus calls us to be united to Him, to turn our burdens over to him, and allow him to refresh us. The gospel says that our souls will find rest, for his yoke is easy and his burden light. Jesus is saying to us, "Give me all your problems and all your concerns, your many difficulties, and trust me." Turn it all over to the Lord; your feelings of being overwhelmed with financial burdens, the difficult times in your marriage, the boring aspects of your job, your constant concerns for your children, your ill health or that of a loved one. Turn it all over to the Lord and be at peace. Have faith that no matter what happens, if you have union with the Lord, all will be well.

In the 1^st reading today, the prophet Zechariah reminds us that our true basis for prosperity is our relationship with God. He tells us to rejoice, because the Savior has come. God, he says, is not up there, far from us; He is present among us; He is right here in our hearts.

This weekend we are celebrating our Independence Day, when we commemorate our independence from the oppression of English rule over our original 13 Colonies. In the gospel Jesus proclaims independence from the tyranny of Jewish legal conformity – that is, the prescribed observance to the many rules and regulations of the "Jewish Law." He offers to all who will come and follow him, a unity of heart, a freedom to know the truth, and the prosperity of a grace filled life. He says, "come to me,… my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

As individuals, we all carry heavy burdens of sin, anxieties about the future, weariness in the search for God, or any number of other problems we face day-to-day. We tend to submit to false dependencies, which result in conflicts within and between ourselves. Addictions, obsessions, pretendings, self-hatreds, and other deceptions can so easily attract us to a heavy-burdened living and life. But Jesus frees us from these burdens by yoking himself to us, and helping us carry the load, if we let him. The rest that He promises is love, healing and peace with God. A relationship with God changes meaningless, wearisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us of a God who cares about us and wants to nurture us into a loving relationship with our creator. Unfortunately, there are many religions and faiths that portray God as an overbearing and vengeful God that needs to be appeased. Yet, in actuality, our God is a God of mercy, compassion and love.

The last verse in today’s Responsorial Psalm says, "The Lord is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works. The Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down."

Ultimately, our freedom results from declaring independence from everything which separates us from a personal relationship with God. We will find rest for our souls in making our personal Declaration of Dependence on God alone who is true and freeing, peaceful, and gentle on our souls.