20180719 FINDING REST AND STRENGTH FROM THE LORD
19 JULY, 2018, Thursday, 15th Week,
Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Isaiah 26:7-9,12,16-19 ©
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'Awake and exult, all you who lie in the dust'
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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.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 101(102):13-21 ©
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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.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Ps129:5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Mt11:28
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 11:28-30 ©
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My yoke is easy and my burden light
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Jesus 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.’
FINDING REST AND STRENGTH FROM THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ISA 26:7-9,12,16-19; MT 11:28-30]
This is a
very difficult and challenging life. Most of us find life rather
burdensome because of our many responsibilities. We live in fear and anxiety
over the need to provide for our loved ones; fulfilling our tasks and projects
at work. We are not too sure whether our business would be successful.
Life is so unpredictable. Then at times, we have to deal with
life’s tragedies, accidents and sicknesses. Such misfortunes often take
its toll on us, especially those of us who are care-givers, not forgetting the
anxiety and pain of those who are suffering.
However, the
burdens of life are not limited to the struggles of daily life. To live a
righteous life is also a great burden. At times, the path of the
righteous is fraught with opposition, oppression and even persecution. It
is not easy to do God’s will because there will be those who oppose us.
Like Jesus, in whatever we do, even when we seek to do good, we will face
opposition, slander and destructive criticisms. We are often
misunderstood, like the prophets of God. Doing God’s will involves much
sacrifices and self-denial.
Then there is
the burden of carrying our past, especially our sins and mistakes in life. Many of us are regretful of
the blunders we made in life. On hindsight, we feel we could have done
better, been more courageous or decisive. We feel that we have been proud
and arrogant, harsh and fierce and as a result soured relationships. Some
of us have been irresponsible with our time and money and now have to bear the
consequences of our sins. We have not been loving and understanding as
parents to our children. We have not been faithful and supportive of our
spouse. We have been demanding and lacking compassion for our
subordinates at work.
Finally,
there is the weariness we encounter in our search for God. Like the Israelites,
we say, “at night my soul longs for you and my spirit in me seeks for you.”
When our lives are empty and everything we do seems futile and useless, we seek
a deeper encounter with God in our hearts. Nevertheless, God seems to be
very far away. We cannot feel His presence and His love. We read
the scripture but nothing strikes our heart. We pray but He does not seem
to hear our prayers, and we feel like we are talking to ourselves. We
attend mass, but are not moved or inspired.
If these are
our burdens, then we need to come to the Lord. Coming to the Lord
does not mean that He will take away our labour or sufferings. This
might be true at times, if it is in accordance with His will. However,
most of the time, Jesus does not come to take away our sufferings but to help
us to endure them and transform them from curses to blessings in life.
This is what He meant when He said, “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.” The yoke that Jesus speaks
about is a heavy wooden harness placed over the shoulder of an ox or
oxen. It is then attached to another equipment which is pulled along by
the ox when he walks.
So too, Jesus
is asking us to put on the yoke that He is carrying so that we can identify
with Him in our sufferings, sharing His way of looking at the crosses we carry
in life. Some scholars suggest that it would be a double yoke so that we do
not carry alone but with Him. Regardless whether it is an individual yoke
or a double yoke, the point is that when we suffer, we must suffer in union
with Jesus.
This means
that we should carry our sufferings with the same perspective that Jesus did. By so doing, we not
only make sense of our sufferings and burdens but we carry them with meaning
and purpose. He said to His disciples, “If any want to become my
followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow
me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose
their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain
the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?” (Lk 9:23-25)
It is meaningless suffering that makes the cross we carry heavier than it
really is. But when we carry our cross with purpose, then such sufferings
become healing, uplifting and transforming. He said, “Shoulder my yoke
and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest
for your souls.” This rest comes from a clear conscience, which gives
peace to the heart even whilst carrying the cross. Jesus did not
come to take away the labour of love and giving, but to help us to learn
gentleness of heart by carrying them with love.
This was the
perspective of the faithful Israelites when they were suffering. They prayed, “Lord,
you are giving us peace, since you treat us as our deeds deserve. Distressed,
we search for you, 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.” They were thankful for the punishment
that they received because they saw them as means for their growth.
Instead of being resentful of what they were going through, they accepted their
punishment positively. In a nutshell, they realized that their
suffering was not in vain. It was through their suffering that they came
to consciousness of their mistakes and sins.
Jesus said,
“Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” Humility in
accepting our suffering as God’s punishment and His way to educate and form His
people is what gives us inner peace and rest. This is what the letter of Hebrews says,
“My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart
when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he
loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts. Endure trials for the
sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there
whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in
which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children” (Heb 12:5-8)
Jesus Himself “although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he
suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal
salvation for all who obey him.” (Heb 5:8f)
Indeed, we
should never think that God has abandoned us when we are going through the
trials of life. With the psalmist, we must place our confidence in God’s
wisdom, mercy and love. He said, “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 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. 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.” Such is the
confidence of the prayer of the psalmist. Indeed, we must believe that we
will rise again after the period of trials and sufferings which purify us in
our love for the Lord. Walking in His path, we will find the way to
fullness of life. We read too “in the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up
prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able
to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent
submission.” (Heb 5:7) Indeed, new life is for those who have died to their
sins and their broken past. “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.”
So let us
turn to the Lord with confidence in prayer. In prayer, we do not seek to
change God’s will but we seek to align our will with that of God’s. This was what Jesus
did in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said, “Father, if you are willing,
remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” (Lk 22:42)
We then read, “an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him
strength.” (Lk 22:43) In other words, when He surrendered His will to God,
He found rest and peace even when He was fully aware of the immense sufferings
ahead of Him.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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