💖 HOMILY - JULY 18 💖

First Reading - Isaiah 26:7-9,12,16-19

Gospel - Matthew 11:28-30

Our lives are fraught with challenges and issues. At times, we manage to overcome some of them, but others remain so disturbing and harassing that they shatter us completely. The readings of the day reassure and embolden us to combat the problems and issues that have become oppressive because God Himself takes the initiative to relieve us of them all.

The first reading sheds light on the restoration of Israel in the messianic times under the figure of the resurrection of the dead. The imagery of the dead coming alive evokes the expectation and hope of the people of Israel who were fraught with many challenges and were becoming wearied and dispirited. This promise of restoration and revival is meant to uplift their spirits and renew their trust in God's saving power.

This imagery used by Isaiah comes alive in Jesus as He invites everyone through the Gospel: "Come to me." In the Gospel, Jesus offers rest to those who labor and are burdened if they are ready to accept Christ’s easy yoke and light burden. For the Orthodox Jew, religion was a matter of burdens, namely, 613 Mosaic laws and thousands of oral interpretations, which dictated every aspect of life. Christ invites the overburdened Israel, and us, to take Jesus’ yoke upon our shoulders. 

In Palestine, ox-yokes were made of wood and were carved to fit the ox comfortably. The yoke of Christ can be seen as the sum of our Christian responsibilities and duties. Jesus’ yoke is light because it is given with love. It is the commandment to love others as Jesus did. Besides, the yoke of Christ is not just a yoke from Christ but also a yoke with Jesus. So, we are not yoked alone to pull the plow by our own unaided power. We are yoked together with Christ to work with Christ using Christ’s strength. Jesus is inviting each one of us to be yoked this way, to unite our life, our will, and our heart with the Life, Will, and Heart of Christ. By saying that this “yoke is easy,” Jesus means that whatever God sends us is made to fit our needs and our abilities exactly.

The second part of Jesus’ claim is: “My burden is light.” Jesus does not mean that this burden is easy to carry, but that it is laid on us in love. This burden is meant to be carried in love, and love makes even the heaviest burden light. By following Jesus, one will find peace, rest, and real refreshment. We are burdened with many things: business, concerns about jobs, marriage, money, health, children, security, old age, and a thousand other things. Jesus is asking us to give all these burdens to Him and take on the yoke He offers. By telling us, “Take my yoke . . . and you will find rest,” Christ is asking us to do things the Christian way. When we are centered in God, when we follow God’s commandments, we have no heavy burdens.

Dear friends, we need to be freed from unnecessary burdens: Jesus is interested in lifting off our backs the burdens that drain us and suck the life out of us, so that Christ can place around our necks Jesus’ own yoke and Jesus’ burden, which bring to us, and to others through us, new life, new energy, and new joy.

We need to unload our burdens before the Lord. One of the functions of worship for many of us is that it gives us a time for rest and refreshment when we let the overheated radiators of our hectic lives cool down before the Lord. This is especially true when we unload the burdens of our sins, worries, and evil addictions on the altar and offer them to God during the Holy Mass. May we find solace in His promise of rest and renewal.