14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Fr. Vinner)

“WE ARE YOKED WITH CHRIST”.

My Sisters  & Brothers in Christ,

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us, quite simply, what kind of person he is. And what a beautiful, appealing description it is that he gives of himself. Jesus presents himself as gentle and meek and kind; restful and refreshing; easy, understanding and undemanding. And, as Jesus also tells us, when he says this about himself, he is saying it about God. Therefore the God that Jesus reveals to us is a gentle and meek and kind God, a restful and refreshing God, an easy and understanding and undemanding, unimposing God.

The prophet Zechariah gives us this same image of God in the first reading – a God who does not use power to force us, to demand of us, to impose on us, like an all-powerful king; but rather a God who calls us and appeals to us, who invites us and persuades us, who comes to us as a meek and peaceful Savior God.

Paul tells us in the second reading that the spirit of God dwells in us. If this is so, then it is only the kind of God revealed by Jesus in Scripture that the spirit of God allows us in turn to reveal and make known to the world. And how best can we do this? Simply, in God’s own way, in the way that God used by coming in Jesus and living a fully human life. Living a fully human life. This is the way that we can all use – the way of easy, gentle persuasion shown forth by a good, human, Christian life on our part, and an open, sympathetic understanding of others – a way that in and of itself will invite and draw others to the peace and joy that they see we have. And then, if they inquire, we can tell them that we have such peace and joy simply because the only God we know is a God who is gentle and meek and kind, restful and refreshing, easy and understanding and undemanding – a God who is truly meek and humble of heart.

There is, however, a better way of understanding the yoke of Christ. Among the Jews the yoke was put on the necks of two cattle so that together they could pull the plow as one. It always takes a pair to work a yoke. When Jesus asks you to take the yoke, you might as well ask who your yoke-mate is. Your yoke-mate is none other than Jesus himself. The yoke, in fact, belongs to him and he only invites you to team up with him. The yoke of Christ is not just a yoke from Christ but also a yoke with him. To take the yoke of Christ is to associate and identify ourselves with him: our destiny with his destiny, our vision with his vision and our mission with his mission. It is to know that we are not pulling the yoke alone and by our power but together with Christ and by the strength that comes from him. It is to know that Jesus is not just a teacher who gives you homework but also a friend who helps you do it.

(Once a couple went to Doctor: Your husband needs rest and peace. Here are some sleeping pills. Wife: When must I give them to him? Doctor: They are for you…)

1. We need to unload our burdens on the Lord: This “unloading” is the main purpose of our personal and family prayers and one of the functions of Divine Worship in the Church. During our daily prayers in the evening, we ask God’s forgiveness for the sins and failures of day and receive the consoling assurance that we are reconciled with God and our fellow human beings. During the Holy Mass in our parish Church, we place our stress-filled lives on the altar and allow Jesus to cool down the overheated radiators of our hectic lives. We also unload the burdens of our sins and worries on the altar and offer them and ourselves to God during the Holy Mass.

2. We need to be freed from unnecessary burdens: Jesus lays the light burden of his commandment of love on us and yokes us with himself, giving us his strength through the Holy Spirit to fulfill that commandment. Jesus is also interested in lifting off our backs the burdens that suck the life out of us, so that he can place around our necks his own yoke that brings to us and to others through us, new life, new energy, and new joy. We are called, not only to find peace, refreshment and rest for ourselves, but also to live the kind of life through which others, too, may find God’s peace, God’s refreshing grace, and the joy of placing their lives in God’s hands.

We should never forget that we are yoked with Christ. To this end, it helps to start each day with a prayer like this: “Lord, help me to remember that there is no problem I am going to face today that you and I together cannot handle.” This is how the yoke becomes easy and the burden light.

May God Bless you,

Fr.S.Vinner HGN