Memorial of Saint Theresa of Jesus

Jesus said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”

In the gospel reading, Jesus criticizes the scribes, the interpreters of the Jewish Law, for loading burdens on people’s shoulders that are unendurable and doing nothing to help people lift those burdens. Jesus saw himself in a very different light. On one occasion, according to Matthew’s gospel, he declared, “Come to me all you who labor and are overburdened and I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.” Far from burdening people, Jesus worked to release them from unnecessary burdens. And the demands he made on people were light in comparison with those of the scribes.

That is not to say that his message was not challenging and demanding; it was. However, his message was essentially good news for people, not bad news. The path he called people to take was a way of life. Jesus came so that people might have life and have it to the full. The gospel is not a burden; it is a joy because it is good news, the good news of God’s enduring love for us in Christ.

Jesus came to draw us into a loving relationship with God and thereby to empower us to live as God is calling us to live. The call of the gospel does make demands of us, but they are the demands of love. They come from the heart of a loving Lord who wants us to have life and have it to the full.

Do I see the call of the gospel as a life-giving gift from the love of Christ?

Let Us Pray:

O Jesus, may I always regard the demands of the gospel as your call, offering me the fullness of life only you can give.