15TH THURSDAY HOMILY OF THE ORDINARY TIME: YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU AND LEARN FROM ME
BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
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This world is oftentimes referred to as the “valley of tears.” Indeed, life in this world is burdensome and full of trials, difficulties and pains. Jesus is fully aware of this human situation. He Himself experienced this in His lowly life in Nazareth, and more so in His public ministry. That is why His heart is full of compassion and understanding for those who are suffering. In the Gospel of today, He tenderly invites us all: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
The reason why more and more people feel unduly burdened and stressed is due to their desire to face life in this world and solve their problems through their own human powers and capacities. This is really onerous and exhausting because, as humans, we have limitations and weaknesses. Jesus does not want us to be anxious so as to lose our peace and happiness. So, He offers us His invitation: ‘Come to me, and I will give you rest.’
When our life is full of troubles and difficulties, we need to go to Jesus. He will surely give us rest and strength, comfort and assistance in all our needs. We should not face life all by ourselves. He is with us always. We only need to seek Him and let Him help us.
However, there is something that sounds rather paradoxical. He is talking about ‘rest’. But He also talking about taking His yoke: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.”Yoke means burden and suffering. How can rest be enjoyed with a yoke?
A yoke is something hard, solid and heavy. It is a wooden beam or crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals on which the plow or cart is attached. It allows the two animals to share the load and pull together. The animals yoked together needed to be close in size and weight so that the cart or plow that they pull maintains balance.
But it is not always easy to find two animals approximately of the same size and weight. So, yokes were never made to balance. They were always made heavier on one side than the other. In that way, they would put the smaller bullock alongside the bigger one; the light end would rest on the weak beast, the heavier end on the stronger one.
Jesus is offering to share His yoke with us. But the yoke is easy and the burden is light, not only because He shares the burden with us, but also because the heavy end is upon His shoulders. In other words, He is telling us not to bear our burdens alone. He wants us to share our burdens with Him.
Furthermore, the yoke of Christ is being offered as alternative to the yoke of the Pharisees. For so long, the people are burdened by the Law, and it has become increasingly made unbearable by the scribes and Pharisees due to their strict legalism and overemphasis on the externals and details. Jesus offers His yoke: the yoke of love. He teaches that the essence and the true spirit of the Law is love – love of God and love of neighbor. It is still a yoke, but it becomes easy and the burden is light because it is borne with love. St. Teresa of Kolkata said, “Work without love is slavery.” In other words, when work is accompanied by love, the burden becomes light and even sweet to bear. For St. Augustine, “This burden is not a weight at all; it is wings to fly with.”
The lesson of the gospel today can only be fully understood by those who have genuine humility. Hence, Jesus urges us to learn from Him, “for I am meek and humble of heart.” It is only by becoming humble, like a little child, will be able to receive the rest and comfort the Lord offers us and enjoy life in its fullness.
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