14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
What welcome words these are today to our weary world. We look around and see the burdens being carried by us, our families, and our communities: difficulties in relationships, poor health, economic concerns, and fears that our moral choices have not been good enough. We become weary and seek rest.
Today we hear a simple invitation. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. The simple invitation becomes challenging when we are asked to learn meekness and humility. We live in a culture that admires self-sufficiency. Meekness and humility are seen as weaknesses.
The yoke was a familiar farming object designed to be fitted over the necks of oxen or horses to distribute the load easing the burden. Jesus invites us to become so close and in step with him that our load will be shared through this image. We do not have to go it alone.
In Zechariah’s reading, the people of Israel are promised rejoicing because their king will come to them. Saint Paul reminds us that the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead will dwell in us. Through Baptism, we are yoked to Christ. We find rest in his coming into our lives and being with us.
In the Eucharist, we experience the Lord’s most profound coming. He shares his very life — his Body and his Blood with us. In this intimacy, we find rest. Saint Peter Julian invites us to go to the Lord very simply with the surrender of a child. We carry our treasure everywhere. He becomes the center of our heart and our life.
Where will I seek rest today?
Let us pray:
Lord, we thank you for being with us as we carry our burdens, and in you find rest. May your Spirit within us enable us to learn to be meek and humble so that we, in turn, might help others to carry their burdens and find rest and peace. Amen.
