This week's reflection
"Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened."
Jesus uses the word "yoke" in both senses. He is concerned about people "who labour and are overburdened".
The overburdened people awaited a saviour. And Jesus, who, in the word of the prophet Zechariah, would come "triumphant, humble and riding on a donkey", invited those overburdened people, who had no hope of observing all the laws, to "Come to me". "Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
Those beautiful words sum up the ultimate purpose of our Catholic life; it is to find rest for our souls. And to underline it, Jesus adds, "Yes my yoke is easy and my burden light." His yoke is not the heavy yoke of innumerable laws, but the easy yoke of joyfully following him to do his will. By experiencing his gentleness and humility so that we can love him and realise his love for us. He does not want life to be a burden.
Sadly there can be period in life when little can be done to reprioritise, still less to put down or even share our burdens and responsibilities. "Come to me," Jesus says, "I am gentle and humble of heart." "Come to me," rather than seeking solace or relief in the ways of the world, for, as St Paul says in today's second reading, "your interests are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual".
Jesus answers our prayers when we ask his help, and he gives us the strength to carry on with a peace that come from the Spirit of Christ living in us.
Jesus uses the word "yoke" in both senses. He is concerned about people "who labour and are overburdened".
The overburdened people awaited a saviour. And Jesus, who, in the word of the prophet Zechariah, would come "triumphant, humble and riding on a donkey", invited those overburdened people, who had no hope of observing all the laws, to "Come to me". "Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
Those beautiful words sum up the ultimate purpose of our Catholic life; it is to find rest for our souls. And to underline it, Jesus adds, "Yes my yoke is easy and my burden light." His yoke is not the heavy yoke of innumerable laws, but the easy yoke of joyfully following him to do his will. By experiencing his gentleness and humility so that we can love him and realise his love for us. He does not want life to be a burden.
Sadly there can be period in life when little can be done to reprioritise, still less to put down or even share our burdens and responsibilities. "Come to me," Jesus says, "I am gentle and humble of heart." "Come to me," rather than seeking solace or relief in the ways of the world, for, as St Paul says in today's second reading, "your interests are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual".
Jesus answers our prayers when we ask his help, and he gives us the strength to carry on with a peace that come from the Spirit of Christ living in us.
