“Come to me, all you who labour 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.”
Jesus invites us to rest, then suggests that taking up his yoke is the best way for us to rest.
Too often we think of rest as the absence of work or activity. In fact real rest is found when we strive to be in right-relationship with God, even in the midst of activity.
Out of all of the alternatives for life, in my experience whole-hearted Christian living is the most effective way of lightening the loads of life.
Living in harmony with Jesus is the most joy-filled way to live. When I grasp at alternative offerings, (all of which promise much and deliver little or nothing), it’s then that I run into problems and feel really burdened.
In a rural parish a couple of years ago when this gospel was read parishioners explained after Mass that the yoke is a wooden crosspiece that joins the two (or more) oxen or cattle in harness so that they can share the weight of the plough or cart that they are to pull.
One parishioner said that whenever she feels burdened she imagines that she is yoked to Jesus and that he (being stronger than her) is happy to pull most of the weight, and she can relax knowing that she has great and strong company with Him alongside her.
Then I had a conversation with a group of parishioners who were sharing the joy of feeling “yoked together” as people of faith, so that if one of them was feeling a bit weak, the rest of the team could pick up the burden enabling them all to stay together.
An invitation:
- Give your burden to Jesus.
The evocative imagery pictured in the natural environment depicts a divine appreciation. Thank you for your inspiring reflection again this morning. +
The image Jesus gives us is not of sitting at a tabe with us, or relaxing on a beach. We are harnessed with him for work. It is deeply moving to know that Jesus depicted himself as a beast of burden in order to reassure us that he is yoked to us in all our labout.
One time I explained to my, then 4 year old, son that Jesus was like his shadow – always there but you couldn’t always see that he was. My son then ran off to the slide and after getting to the bottom of the slide yelled out ‘did ya like that Jesus!’ 6 years later and he still trusts that Jesus is with him all of the time, even when I forget.
Thanks for the reflection.
I love it! What a treasure we have in our children. Depth of wisdom with none of the pride or doubting of adults.
Catherine
Beautiful and encouraging message of comfort in the busyness of life. Sincere thanks…
i am so grateful to be a catholic thanks god for the gift of baptism, my life is a miracle i feel so bless even though my husband is not a catholic after years of struggles now he support me, he finally gave up, god has won the victory for us,the gift of perceverence and trust in god, i feel that god is put me with him to change his life too have faith