https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071425.cfm
There was a time when the children of Israel labored beneath cruel taskmasters.
They built cities for a kingdom that was not their own. Their sweat and sorrow became currency for Pharaoh’s pride.
And yet, even under the weight of oppression, God heard their cry.
He sent a liberator. He split seas. He called His people home.
But not all chains clang.
Some are silent—woven from pride, fear, and unrepented sin.
In every age, taskmasters rise again—not outside us, but within.
Vice and sin are tyrants of the heart.
They demand more while giving less.
They force us to labor in bitterness, addiction, complacency, and shame.
And while we decorate our prisons with comfort and routine,
Christ stands at the gate with pierced hands and a gentle voice:
“Follow Me.”
Yet His way is not a detour around pain—it is the Cross.
He says, without apology or compromise:
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.
Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
This is not the language of condemnation—it is the invitation of love.
Because love that is not first rooted in Christ will falter under pressure.
And anything that outranks Him—no matter how noble—becomes a false master.
True freedom begins with surrender.
Not to Pharaoh. Not to sin.
But to the Savior who bore our taskmasters on His shoulders.
To the Lamb who entered Egypt, entered death, and shattered its hold.
So we ask today:
Am I building bricks for someone else’s kingdom?
Have I traded the promise of eternal life for fleeting comfort?
Do I know the Cross—not just in theory—but in daily sacrifice?
Let us take up the Cross—not with dread, but with dignity.
Let us lose the life the world demands—so we can find the one God desires.
Let us walk out of Egypt—not with clenched fists, but open hearts.
Because when Jesus leads us, even deserts bloom.
Even chains rust. And even the hardest places—become holy ground.
Be good. Be holy. And walk free.
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