CARRYING THE YOKE OF CHRIST

20160714 CARRYING THE YOKE OF CHRIST

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

Isaiah 26:7-9,12,16-19 ©

The path of the upright man is straight,

you smooth the way of the upright.

Following the path of your judgements,

we hoped in you, O Lord,

your name, your memory are all my soul desires.

At night my soul longs for you

and my spirit in me seeks for you;

when your judgements appear on earth

the inhabitants of the world learn the meaning of integrity.

O Lord, you are giving us peace,

since you treat us

as our deeds deserve.

Distressed, we search for you, O Lord;

the misery of oppression was your punishment for us.

As a woman with child near her time

writhes and cries out in her pangs,

so are we, O Lord, in your presence:

we have conceived, we writhe

as if we were giving birth;

we have not given the spirit of salvation to the earth,

no more inhabitants of the world are born.

Your dead will come to life,

their corpses will rise;

awake, exult,

all you who lie in the dust,

for your dew is a radiant dew

and the land of ghosts will give birth.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 101:13-21 ©

The Lord looked down from heaven to the earth.

You, O Lord, will endure for ever

  and your name from age to age.

You will arise and have mercy on Zion:

  for this is the time to have mercy,

for your servants love her very stones,

  are moved with pity even for her dust.

The Lord looked down from heaven to the earth.

The nations shall fear the name of the Lord

  and all the earth’s kings your glory,

when the Lord shall build up Zion again

  and appear in all his glory.

Then he will turn to the prayers of the helpless;

  he will not despise their prayers.

The Lord looked down from heaven to the earth.

Let this be written for ages to come

  that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord;

for the Lord leaned down from his sanctuary on high.

  He looked down from heaven to the earth

that he might hear the groans of the prisoners

  and free those condemned to die.

The Lord looked down from heaven to the earth.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Ps129:5

Alleluia, alleluia!

My soul is waiting for the Lord,

I count on his word.

Alleluia!

Or

Mt11:28

Alleluia, alleluia!

Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened,

and I will give you rest, says the Lord.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 11:28-30 ©

Jesus exclaimed, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

CARRYING THE YOKE OF CHRIST

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ IS 26:7-9, 12, 16-19; MT 11:28-30  ]

We all carry many burdens in life. Some burdens come from our responsibilities and the anxiety of carrying them out, especially with regard to the needs of our family and children.  We are constantly worrying about their health, their studies, careers and relationships.  Some burdens come from our own sins and mistakes in life.  We cannot forgive our past mistakes and often we allow our guilt and past to haunt us.  We fear that God will not forgive us our sins.  We are worried that one day our sins and crimes would be exposed.  Then we also suffer from the onslaught of our opponents and enemies, either at work or in what we do. We have people who will oppose us, slander us, and misunderstand us.  Indeed, quite often, we feel like giving up because the burdens are so heavy.  We wish for an early exit from this earth and yet are not able to let go because we fear for our loved ones.  We love them too much to abandon them and yet at the same time, we feel that the crosses are too heavy for us.  Often times, we wish that God would change our cross for others.  We envy why others seem to have a better share of this world’s happiness and goods than us.

What needs to be changed is not the cross that we carry but the way we carry our cross in life.  This is what Jesus is telling us when He said, “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest.  Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.”   Today, we are invited to put on a different pair of lens in looking at our problems.  Indeed, happiness in life has to do with the way we look at life rather than the challenges of life themselves.  The truth is that all of us face struggles in life.  We all have to deal with difficult people around us and those who do not agree with us.  We all have our fair share of family squabbles, failed relationships, financial worries, etc. The difference between those who manage to stay afloat and keep themselves happy and joyful and those who fall into depression is simply a matter of how we look at our woes in life.

The question we need to determine is whether we see our problems and struggles from a narrow perspective or through the eyes of God.  Unfortunately, many of us cannot see beyond our sufferings, our pains and our needs.  We see every challenge from the eyes of self-centeredness and hence our reaction tends to be one of fear, anger and revenge.  When we become defensive, we are reacting to our problems.  What is required of us is to be more proactive and to see a bigger picture instead.  We need to realize that our sufferings are slight compared to what is ahead of us, both in this life and in the next.  When we view our struggles in the context of a greater good and outcome, not just for ourselves but for our loved ones and the good of humanity, we do not mind carrying the pain.   It is only when we carry the burden for ourselves, or for the burdens themselves, with reluctance and without understanding, that the burdens become even heavier than the actual reality.

For this reason, the gospel invites us to look at life from the perspective of Christ.  But what was Christ’s perspective? Jesus saw everything from the perspective of His Father. That was how He looked at life and ministry.  Yesterday, the gospel spoke of His intimate knowledge of the Father.  Indeed, in the gospel many times, Jesus spoke of the union of mind and will with His Father.  “The Father and I are one.”  (Jn 10:30)  The heart, the mind, the plan, the vision and the love of the Father was also that of Jesus.  So like the Father, Jesus suffered for the love of humanity, shared the same compassion and mercy with His Father for us all.

So if we want to view life like Jesus, we need to put on His yoke. This phrase ‘to put on His yoke’ is taken from the example of the yokes placed on the oxen so that they could plough the field.  The yoke however must be made to fit the neck of the oxen; otherwise they will suffer discomfort and pain.  This will only lessen their ability to perform the task happily and efficiently.  So when Jesus invites us to come to Him and “shoulder my yoke and learn from me”, He is showing the way to find rest for our souls by having a gentle and humble heart like His.   So we need to ask the next question.

How did Jesus carry His cross and burdens in life?  We read that He accepted His cross patiently, willingly and positively.  He embraced the cross as part of His mission to proclaim the mercy and goodness of God.  He saw it as the way to bring about the reconciliation between God and man.  Most of all, He trusted in the Father’s will and mercy.  He submitted Himself to the plan of His Father even though as a human being He might not always understand.  On the cross, we hear His cry for us and for His Father when He said, “Into your hands, I commend my spirit.” (Lk 23:46) Regardless of the situation, even if incomprehensible and apparently ridiculous, Jesus never failed to trust in the Father’s love and wisdom.  He trusted that His Father knew best.  Hence, He chose to do His Father’s will at all times.

Happiness is to accept our lot in life.  It is to follow and accept the will of God in our lives.  Rather than fighting against His will, we are to cooperate with the Lord’s plan for us.   By not fighting against His will, we will have more energy to face up to the challenges of life, surmount them and grow through them.  But many of us spend our whole life fighting against the will of God so much so we have no more energy to sustain ourselves and to respond to the responsibilities of life.   By denying the will of God for us, we end up bitter, unprepared, and we suffer more in the end.  Rather, we must make the best of whatever situation we find ourselves in.  Every crisis is an opportunity.  Every obstacle is a stepping stone.  Every mountain is for us to scale and reach the heights of life.  This is what it means when Jesus says that His yoke is easy.  The moment we adjust ourselves to the will of God, our lives will become comfortable.  Rather than desiring what we want, let us desire what we already have and what the Lord wants to give us along the way.  We cannot choose the crown without the thorns.  They are part and parcel of life.  The glory of the crown comes only because of the thorns.  The greater the challenges, the greater the joy of the triumph and the greater the growth that takes place.

Secondly, Jesus carried His cross in love and for love of His Father and us.  When there is love, the burden is light.  Jesus did all things for the love of His Father and for us.  So too, when we carry our crosses, not for ourselves but for our loved ones and for the good of humanity, we will find that it is worthwhile.  We cannot find happiness only when our sufferings are carried in vain or just for ourselves.  But when we do it for the love of God and humanity, we are given special grace and strength to carry them cheerfully and joyfully for the Lord.  There is a spiritual joy that comes from a suffering love.   So we need to ask, for whom and for what are we carrying the cross?  If it is only for our selfish desires and ambitions, the cross will be heavier, but when carried for love of others, it is much lighter because of the joy of knowing that we are bringing life and joy to others.

Thirdly, we are called to see our sufferings positively as redemptive suffering, like Jesus the suffering servant.  That was how the Israelites viewed their sufferings and their exile.  They knew that their sufferings were the consequence of their sins and that they were meant not to destroy them but to build them up and to help them to return to their senses and come back to God. When we begin to see our sufferings positively instead of negatively, then new life will begin.  We will then use our energy to rebuild our lives and with renewed joy and hope.  Otherwise, when we are negative and look at life with despair and anger, we will have no more strength and spirit to look beyond our sufferings which are meant to help us to purify ourselves and grow in grace, love and strength.

Thirdly, joy and peace in the final analysis has nothing to do with success and accomplishments but a clear conscience, knowing that we have done the right thing, even when the whole world is against us.  The world can be upset with us but in our hearts we know that God is pleased with us.  So we are at peace and we can sleep and die in peace because we have followed our conscience.  As the psalmist says, “The path of the upright man is straight, you smooth the way of the upright.”

Consequently, if we want to put on the mind and heart of Christ, to shoulder His yoke and learn from Him, then we must seek the Lord and come to Him to learn from Him, like the Israelites and the apostles.  Like the psalmist, we must desire to come to the Lord to find instruction, inspiration, wisdom and direction.  “At night my soul longs for you and my spirit in me seeks for you; when your judgements appear on earth the inhabitants of the world learn the meaning of integrity.”

When we put on the mind of Christ then the prophecy will come true for us that there will be a new life and resurrection.  Truly, as the prophet assures us, “Your dead will come to life, their corpses will rise; awake, exult, all you who lie in the dust, for your dew is a radiant dew and the land of ghosts will give birth.”

Our God is merciful and compassionate.  We must never doubt His love for us.  He will never abandon us if we come to Him and shoulder His yoke, seek His heart and His will.  We too will find peace in our sufferings and in our pains for we will find His yoke easy and the burden light because His will is now ours.  Now, from the perspective of faith and love, everything fits nicely and so the burden is made lighter because the yoke is just right on our shoulder.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved