By: Ann Marie Servito / 13 May 2018
Mothers are emphatically burden-bearers. They carry children in their wombs and give away a part of themselves to others. Their passionate concern and love for the family transcend through time. Because of this, we celebrate them!
ETab’s harvest month’s momentum continues on the second Sunday of May as we celebrate Mother’s Day with the theme ‘I AM your burden-bearer’. The harvest month’s theme was intentionally matched with the Mother’s Day celebration to honor the mothers.
Rachel Arellano, 10 years old, brightly smiled as she opened the presentation with a poem “Mother”. It was followed by a choir directed by Pas. Carlos Barcelona. Dressed in turquoise and black, the team sang words of encouragement:
“Leave that burden lying there
You already gave it to God in prayer
Just have faith, you’re in his care.”
Every day, we carry a burden we don’t speak about. We unconsciously pass the weight of our problems to the people around us like a domino effect, leaving them tired and weary too. Behind all these, Jesus invites us to cast our burdens upon him. He is the one who carried the cross for us in the beginning. This was dramatically portrayed for us through a theater play directed by Sir Fernand Peralta.
It was followed by the honoring of the mothers by the church with Goldilocks Cakes. Some of them were in tears at the stage, touched, as they received the tokens. Truly, mothers are blessings from God and nobody will understand the pains and the joys of being a mother.
Rev. Lily Lim shared the word of God, referencing Matthew 11:28-30. which says:
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
We carry different burdens as we live—burdens at home, burdens in our business, burdens in our ministry, burden relating to our friends, physical bodies, sins and guilt, and decision making. Despite all these, we shouldn’t doubt God nor complain. This isn’t also a time to despair or to escape. Instead, we should accept and recognize that burden, too, is a gift.
As what the key text imparts, all mothers and believers should cast their burdens to the Lord, something which isn’t passively done but requires a great effort. Lastly, we leave our burden to Jesus, our ultimate burden-bearer! He shouldered the heavier yoke for us and in Him, our yoke is light.
