Fourteenth Sunday of the Year (Year A)

Fourteenth Sunday of the Year July 09, 2023

Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9.11-13; Matthew 11:25-30

(Image courtesy: Google)

Based on today’s Gospel passage a priest started off by asking the college student participants whether they really think that the yoke of Christ is easy, and his burden light. The answer he got was a resounding “No!” Asked to explain, the students went on to recount the daily pains and discomforts they suffer in their attempt to be faithful to Christ’s teachings. “I have this problem,” said Elena. “I pray about it constantly and I make all the effort I can, yet I keep falling into the same temptation over and over again.” Johnson spoke about all his efforts to fight an addiction. “I have prayed about it. I have sought help. And I really try. Yet after a few days of apparent success, I find myself falling right back to where I started.”Many of us can identify with the predicaments of these young people. In today’s gospel Jesus offers us a way out: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,  and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The rest he promises is a release from the experience of serving God as a fatigue and a burden. The promise means that serving God could be transformed into a sweet experience of rest.

Have you ever ploughed a field? Or at least watched someone plaguing? The way yoke is tied to the bulls looks too harsh and inhuman. Yoke might have been a usual thing for Jesus, being a carpenter himself. As a carpenter Jesus must have cut many such yokes. The yoke that Jesus gives for us does not cause discomfort but brings us comfort because the yoke of Jesus is easy and light. The invitation of Jesus to us is to accept not a yoke that weighs us down but a yoke that is easy and light, for he says, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. There is still another way of understanding the image of the yoke. He tells us: Live life my way and place your burdens on me and they will be light. Your yokes too will be gentle and in fact, pleasant if you are with me.

What does Jesus really promise with his yoke? Jesus does not promise a life without burdens or weariness. On the other hand he offers a way of overcoming them. His is not an easy way out of problems but rather a liberating way into solutions. This is the wisdom that is hidden from the intelligent and the wise, but which is obvious to infants. Trust as children trust, Jesus says. Let a loving parent take your hand. Shelter on a mother's breast; be carried on your father's shoulders. Have confidence in a parent's promise. Live as though your needs are noticed, respected, provided. Underneath are the everlasting arms that constantly invite his disciples for rest. In this personal invitation he repeats that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. We are so good at bearing heavy burdens.

There is, however, a better way of understanding the yoke of Christ. Among the Jews the yoke was put on the necks of two cattle so that together they could pull the plough as one. It always takes a pair to work a yoke. When Jesus asks you to take the yoke, you might as well ask who is your yoke-mate. Your yoke-mate is none other than Jesus himself. The yoke, in fact, belongs to him and he only invites you to team up with him. The yoke of Christ is not just a yoke from Christ but also a yoke with him. To take the yoke of Christ is to associate and identify ourselves with him: our destiny with his destiny, our vision with his vision and our mission with his mission. It is to know that we are not pulling the yoke alone and by our power but together with Christ and by the strength that comes from him.

Therefore our Christian life is not lived in isolation. Our Lord is always with us, sharing our burden and journeying with us. When we truly believe that Jesus is with us in our joys and struggles of life, when we realize that Jesus also bears another part of our daily struggles, we become joyful followers of Jesus our true master. Let us remember that in Jesus alone our yoke becomes easy and the burden light.

"Cast your burdens unto Jesus, for He cares for you."

Happy Sunday