20161207 MAKING LIGHT OUR BURDENS IN LIFE
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Isaiah 40:25-31 ©
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‘To whom could you
liken me
and who could be my
equal?’ says the Holy One.
Lift your eyes and
look.
Who made these stars
if not he who drills
them like an army,
calling each one by
name?
So mighty is his
power, so great his strength,
that not one fails to
answer.
How can you say,
Jacob,
how can you insist,
Israel,
‘My destiny is hidden
from the Lord,
my rights are ignored
by my God’?
Did you not know?
Had you not heard?
The Lord is an
everlasting God,
he created the
boundaries of the earth.
He does not grow
tired or weary,
his understanding is
beyond fathoming.
He gives strength to
the wearied,
he strengthens the
powerless.
Young men may grow
tired and weary,
youths may stumble,
but those who hope in
the Lord renew their strength,
they put out wings
like eagles.
They run and do not
grow weary,
walk and never tire.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
102(103):1-4,8,10 ©
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My soul, give
thanks to the Lord.
My soul, give thanks
to the Lord
all my
being, bless his holy name.
My soul, give thanks
to the Lord
and never
forget all his blessings.
My soul, give
thanks to the Lord.
It is he who forgives
all your guilt,
who heals
every one of your ills,
who redeems your life
from the grave,
who
crowns you with love and compassion.
My soul, give
thanks to the Lord.
The Lord is
compassion and love,
slow to
anger and rich in mercy.
He does not treat us
according to our sins
nor repay
us according to our faults.
My soul, give
thanks to the Lord.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Behold, our Lord will
come with power
and will enlighten
the eyes of his servants.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Look, the Lord will
come to save his people.
Blessed those who are
ready to meet him.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 11:28-30
©
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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.’
MAKING
LIGHT OUR BURDENS IN LIFE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ISAIAH 40:25-31; MATTHEW 11:28-30 ]
How has
life been treating you? Do you find life to be nothing more than
drudgery? Are you heavily laden with the cares, anxieties and
responsibilities of life? Do you feel that your burden is too
overwhelming and wish that the Lord would come and relieve you of your life
soon? Indeed, some of us are so weary, tired and weighed down by the
struggles of daily life that we wish we could die soon so that we can rest in
peace. If you are feeling this way, then the prophet Isaiah assures
us, “He gives strength to the wearied, he strengthens the powerless. Young men
may grow tired and weary, youths may stumble, but those who hope in the Lord
renew their strength, they put out wings like eagles. They run and do not grow
weary, walk and never tire.”
How could this be?
Will we not grow weary and tired of the burdens of this life? In the
first place, we must ask what these burdens are that have caused us to feel a
load on our shoulders and this heaviness in the heart. Burdens come from
three areas of life. Basically, they belong to the past and the
future. It is not the present that is difficult but when we take the past
and the future together, it is immensely heavy and intimidating.
Unfortunately, many of us live in our past and the future, forgetting the
present joys and the moment.
In the first place, we are
burdened by sin and guilt. We cannot forgive the mistakes we have made in
life. Hence, we cannot move on. The past continues to haunt us and
accuse us of the follies we have made in life. We cannot let go of the
hurts we have caused to others, the betrayals in love and friendship,
especially of our loved ones and family. But we are burdened not only by
our own sins; we are equally, if not more, enslaved by the sins others have
committed against us. We cannot forgive those who have sexually abused us,
those who have caused us to lose our dignity because of slander and gossip; and
those who have acted unjustly towards us, cheating us of our money, business
secrets, etc.
Secondly, we are burdened
by the perfection demanded by Christian life. We know that we all fall
short of what a Christian should be. We want to live a holy and exemplary
Christian life. But the Old Adam is deeply latent in us and waiting to
resurrect the moment we are weary or vulnerable. So we are beset
with our struggles against the capital sins, especially of pride, envy, anger,
sloth, gluttony, lust and greed. We find ourselves losing the
battle against our human weaknesses so much so we feel hypocritical, especially
when we are supposed to be “good and devout” Catholics. We are ashamed
that we have betrayed Christ. But like St Paul, the more we try to meet
the demands of the Law and what is expected of us, our faith become a religion,
simply meeting the obligations of what the Church or the gospel asks of
us. When we break them, we live in fear of God’s displeasure, even
punishment. So religion is burdensome because it means having to do this
and that, fulfilling this and that obligation. Some of us in ministry
also feel so burdened having to fulfill the conditions of membership. With
the demands upon our time from all sides, we simply feel like giving up
completely and just let things be!
Thirdly, we are burdened by
our responsibilities in life. For those of us who hold responsibilities,
the higher the office we hold, or the more people are dependent on us, whether
as leaders, bosses or parents, the more we feel the load on our
shoulders. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. There are always
the anxieties for tomorrow. We are aware that we need to protect and give
our children a great future. We worry about their studies, about their
relationships and their health. As parents, our worries for our family
have no end. Even when our children are married, we worry for their
children and our grandchildren. There is no end to worrying! If we are leaders,
we worry about how to grow the organization, how to strengthen the members and
how to strategize. Most of all, we have the headache of dealing with
difficult members, be they family, colleagues at work or Church ministry.
We have to firefight in managing scandals, internal squabbling, jealousy, envy,
backbiting and irresponsible people under us. This explains why people shy from
holding office, especially public office because of the undue glare of the
public’s eye and the accountability for everything that happens under their
charge. There is no peace for those who hold office, but then this is
true for parents as well.
In the light of the burdens
that we carry, how then can we be happy in life and not worry so much?
Jesus is our solution. He invites us saying, “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.”
How does Jesus help us to lighten our load? Does it mean that He will
take away our crosses in life? Surely not! He Himself carried His
own cross and instructed us to carry our crosses and follow after Him. So
the solution is not removing the crosses and the burdens in our lives.
The key is to consider how we carry them, our past, the future and our
responsibilities.
The primary attitude that
is required of us as Jesus said is to be gentle and humble of heart. Humility,
gentleness and love are the three keys to approaching the demands and trials of
life. Humility is the foundation. Indeed, just earlier on, Jesus
prayed to His heavenly Father saying, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent
and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious
will.” (Mt 11:25f)
We need to be humble if we want to see life through the eyes of God and to have
the wisdom to look at life in the right perspective.
Only with humility can we
see the greatness, beauty and love of God in creation and in our lives.
It is because of our pride that we want things always to be done our way.
We dictate to God what we need and how things should work out according to our
narrow-minded thinking. The first reading invites us to contemplate
on the intricacies of creation, the beauty of God’s work, His majesty, wisdom
and power. This is what the Lord says, “To whom could you liken me and
who could be my equal? Lift your eyes and look. Who made these stars if
not he who drills them like an army, calling each one by name? So mighty is his
power, so great his strength that not one fails to answer.” Truly,
even science cannot fathom everything in creation in spite of all its
achievements. Pondering on the power of God and the transient things of
nature, we should surrender and resign our lives to God. So in our trials
and sufferings, we must think that God does not care. This was what God
said to the ingrates, “How can you say, Jacob, how can you insist, Israel, ‘My
destiny is hidden from the Lord, my rights are ignored by my God’? Did you not
know? Had you not heard?”
Consequently, we must
surrender our lives, especially our worries to Him. When Jesus invites us
to carry His yoke and learn from Him, He is saying that as a carpenter, He
knows how to make the yoke fitting for us. When we carry the yoke, we
need to have the right fitting, otherwise we hurt ourselves. So too, let
us trust that God has given the right crosses for us to bear in life.
Each one has his or her cross to carry. None of the other crosses fit
us. So when we try to run away from our crosses and seek other crosses
instead, this is where the misfit comes in and we suffer more eventually.
So to carry the yoke of Jesus is to accept the cross like Him and when we carry
them rightly, in faith, the crosses will no longer be that heavy. God
knows our limits and our strengths. He does not give us the cross without
giving us His grace and strength. When you look at your life, you know
that He has always blessed you and helped you, as the psalmist says, “My soul,
give thanks to the Lord and never forget all his blessings.”
Secondly, we need the
attitude of gentleness. Most of us are not gentle with ourselves and
therefore harsh with others as well. To be gentle is to learn to love
ourselves, accepting our mistakes and limitations. Pride, ambition
and envy cause us to be hard on ourselves. Perfectionists are never happy
because their self-acceptance depends on their performance and what others say
of them. So we need to love ourselves and recognize our human
frailties. The psalmist reminds us that God is always forgiving and
tolerant. “My soul, give thanks to the Lord. It is he who forgives
all your guilt, who heals every one of your ills, who redeems your life from
the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion. The Lord is compassion and
love, slow to anger and rich in mercy. He does not treat us according to our
sins nor repay us according to our faults.” If God deals with us in this
manner, then we should learn to forgive ourselves, our past mistakes and our
sins.
Until we forgive our own
mistakes, we cannot forgive others who have hurt us. A big part of our
burden is not letting go of our hurts. We continue to nurse the pain in
our hearts and in our minds. This is the most unnecessary burden.
It is not life-giving and it is not empowering. We will not only destroy
others around us because of the bitterness in our hearts but we will be a
prisoner of our hatred and anger. So let us know that our brothers and sisters,
like us, are weak in different areas and vulnerable to the temptations of the
Evil One. If we do not feel that way, then we have fallen into the sin of
presumption and self-righteousness.
Finally,
the burden will be light when we carry all of them like Jesus, not just in
faith, in gentleness, but in love. When Jesus said, “Come to me, all you
who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest”, this is a not a
rest from our duties and responsibilities, but the rest of the soul, because we
carry them without fear of the future, the mistakes of the past and, most of
all, with love in our hearts. Anything that is done in life is still a
sacrifice on our part, but it is a loving sacrifice. Such sacrifices not
only give life to those whom we serve but we give life to ourselves. Indeed,
with faith, we will be like the Israelites, carried by the wings of the eagles
knowing that “his understanding is beyond fathoming”; with humility, we will
not stumble because we will walk in His ways; and with love, the Lord will
renew our strength and we can “run and do not grow weary, walk and never tire.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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