take my yoke
Let’s face it, life is burdensome. I can very well attest to that. Sometimes I would find myself dreaming of being assigned to some faraway parish with mountains on my right and the beach on my left - the simple life with simple concerns. Sometimes I would dream of just sleeping all day with no concern whatsoever even just for one day. When Fr. Doming, our principal said that we are required by law to use up our 15 day sick leave every year from school work, I heard what I thought was the first piece of good news ever since I was transferred in the seminary. Life is burdensome. Most of you here can attest to that. Most of the people I know are carrying burdens - the burden of making both ends meet with their salary, the burden of waiting for a biopsy, the burden of trying to figure out how to save a marriage that is about to break, the burden of figuring out what’s best for our children in a world that has lost what is good in our values, the burden of grief, the burden of guilt and anxiety, the burden of self-doubt.
To be honest and truthful, we are all laboring under burdens. Today we come to mass and we hear Jesus say, "Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will give you rest." Take my yoke he said, for it is easy. Indeed it may make life easier but it is still a yoke.
It is not true that Christ will take away all our sorrows and pain. It is not true as some others claim that with Christ we will never feel lonely again. It is not true that if you believe in Jesus your children will grow up to become good persons. It is not true that you will get promotions and your sickness and ailments will be minor. Our faith in Jesus is not magic. Christ himself suffered rejection and false accusations, he was burdened by stupid disciples asking stupid questions and making stupid propositions, he was weighed down heavily with the betrayal of a disciple and an abandonment by all the rest of his disciples and friends. Christ himself cried and suffered pain, he was abused, used and eventually thrown away. Jesus in today’s mass never said that he will take away all our burdens and pains and he never promised that from now on we will live an easy and burden-free life. Rather he offers us an invitation to be yoked with him, to carry our burdens with him, to pull our tasks with him, to draw from his strength. Christ is not offering himself to do things for us, but he promise to do things with us.
The yoke Jesus is referring to was a double yoke - a yoke made to fit two cows so that the plow can be pulled in tandem by these two work animals. In training young cows the people in Jesus time most often would partner this young cow with an older and more experienced one. That way the older animal can carry along the younger cow direct it and greatly lighten its load. In time they would learn to pull together thus making the plowing more efficient and the going much faster. This is what I mean when I said that Jesus is not going to do things for us but with us. We are not going to carry our burden alone but with him. The yoke of Jesus is easy and his burden light.
In our second reading today St. Paul explains to us the things that further burden our already burdensome life. He calls it the work of the flesh in contrast to the work of the Spirit. What is this work of the flesh? - In the writings of Paul he would often refer to the flesh as human weaknesses and the consequences of that inherent weakness - materialism, hatred, rivalry and competitiveness, jealousy, envy, elitism, arrogance, acts of violence, and the like. The world of the flesh is a world that is separated from God, a world that wears us down and exhausts us with its heavy burdens. Sins of sensuality bring us addictions and disease. Hatred, envy, and arrogance, tear families and even nations. Competitiveness, envy and self-centeredness cause us to be held captive in our business and careers at the cost sometimes of taking us away from our spouses, children, and families. Greed can make us insecure and even insincere. We are heavily burdened too by our misdeeds and sins, and the guilt that usually follows. These things make life all the more burdensome, and to think that life is already a burden.
Today let us accept the invitation of Jesus - to take upon ourselves the yoke that he offers that together we can pull the burden more efficiently and more easily.
To be honest and truthful, we are all laboring under burdens. Today we come to mass and we hear Jesus say, "Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will give you rest." Take my yoke he said, for it is easy. Indeed it may make life easier but it is still a yoke.
It is not true that Christ will take away all our sorrows and pain. It is not true as some others claim that with Christ we will never feel lonely again. It is not true that if you believe in Jesus your children will grow up to become good persons. It is not true that you will get promotions and your sickness and ailments will be minor. Our faith in Jesus is not magic. Christ himself suffered rejection and false accusations, he was burdened by stupid disciples asking stupid questions and making stupid propositions, he was weighed down heavily with the betrayal of a disciple and an abandonment by all the rest of his disciples and friends. Christ himself cried and suffered pain, he was abused, used and eventually thrown away. Jesus in today’s mass never said that he will take away all our burdens and pains and he never promised that from now on we will live an easy and burden-free life. Rather he offers us an invitation to be yoked with him, to carry our burdens with him, to pull our tasks with him, to draw from his strength. Christ is not offering himself to do things for us, but he promise to do things with us.
The yoke Jesus is referring to was a double yoke - a yoke made to fit two cows so that the plow can be pulled in tandem by these two work animals. In training young cows the people in Jesus time most often would partner this young cow with an older and more experienced one. That way the older animal can carry along the younger cow direct it and greatly lighten its load. In time they would learn to pull together thus making the plowing more efficient and the going much faster. This is what I mean when I said that Jesus is not going to do things for us but with us. We are not going to carry our burden alone but with him. The yoke of Jesus is easy and his burden light.
In our second reading today St. Paul explains to us the things that further burden our already burdensome life. He calls it the work of the flesh in contrast to the work of the Spirit. What is this work of the flesh? - In the writings of Paul he would often refer to the flesh as human weaknesses and the consequences of that inherent weakness - materialism, hatred, rivalry and competitiveness, jealousy, envy, elitism, arrogance, acts of violence, and the like. The world of the flesh is a world that is separated from God, a world that wears us down and exhausts us with its heavy burdens. Sins of sensuality bring us addictions and disease. Hatred, envy, and arrogance, tear families and even nations. Competitiveness, envy and self-centeredness cause us to be held captive in our business and careers at the cost sometimes of taking us away from our spouses, children, and families. Greed can make us insecure and even insincere. We are heavily burdened too by our misdeeds and sins, and the guilt that usually follows. These things make life all the more burdensome, and to think that life is already a burden.
Today let us accept the invitation of Jesus - to take upon ourselves the yoke that he offers that together we can pull the burden more efficiently and more easily.
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