Homily for the Week of July 6, 2008

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: 2008
Readings: Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9,11-13, Matthew 11:25-30

Today Jesus uses an example which was very common to the Jewish people in order to explain how important it is to stay connected to him and to God in our lives. He talks about a yoke. A yoke could be a wooden bar or frame by which two oxen are joined at the heads or necks for working together. Or a yoke would be a pole across a person's shoulders to help to carry buckets of water. Yoke-making would have been a daily job for Jesus and those to whom he was talking. But Jesus invites us to be yoke-taking. We must let ourselves be shaped by him. Jesus invites us to pushed ourselves to the limit in doing something because we believe in it.

We have many examples of how persons push themselves to the limit such as a jogger getting ready for the Beijing Olympics. He decides to go on two more miles before quitting for the day. His friends wonder "Why beat yourself that way? Why absorb so much pain?" But his joggers high keeps him humming and floating along the track. This person wants to win. The yoke is easy and the burden is light.

Take the example of a researcher having visions of the Nobel prize in medicine as she works on a cure for cancer or alzheimer. Hardly any social life, living day and night with her white lab coat. Her relatives complain that they never see her. Why burden yourself that way? But then she gets a small breakthrough that makes the burden light and the yoke easy."

Take the example of young men and women who sense a desire to leave home, to deny postpone marriage and family in order to find out whether or not God calls them to prepared themselves to serve the spiritual needs of his people whether in schools, nursing homes, parishes, whether at home or in war and poverty torn countries of the world.

The words of Jesus of today's gospel are the most quoted in all of the Bible. COME TO ME, ALL OF YOU WHO ARE WEARY AND FIND LIFE BURDENSOME, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU AND LEARN FROM ME, FOR I AM MEEK AND GENTLE OF HEART; AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOURSELVES, FOR MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT.

''Rest'' as Jesus offers it is not a good night's sleep nor a vacation from work. It is a rest that heals. It is a rest that lets us recover from what we have experienced so that we can begin something new. Spiritual rest is what we need to give to our spiritual tired souls.

His words refer to the jogger, to the cancer researcher, to the priest or sister as well as to any of us who find daily life a big struggle. The heaviest burden for us is to carry the guilt of sins, failures and disappointments. Jesus tells us that we are forgiven. In helping others to find peace we find purpose in our lives.

We all have our yokes and burdens. We all have days that we would just as soon forget. None of us is without stress or pain. We all get weary at times because that is part of being human.
Jesus does not say that he will remove the burden or the yoke. He just says that he can make it feel lighter and easier to bear. He can put peace in our souls. He can refresh us. But he does not compel any of us to feel better. He leaves us free.

For many Catholics the burden or the yoke that they feel they carry is the burden of practicing their Catholic faith. Two months ago a report called the US Religious Landscape reported that more than 25% of American adults have left the faith in which they were raised for another religion -- or no religion at all. The survey reported that almost 40% of Americans were raised as Catholics, but today fewer than 25% describe themselves as Catholic. For many today religion is like any commodity for which we go shopping.

It was to people under these burdens that Jesus said his burden would be light. But these burdens would be light only if we were connected to him, if we are YOKED to him. This does not mean that we are tied to him like two oxen are tied together by a yoke. It means, however, Jesus will walk with us side by side, helping us as needed to carry our burdens and sharing our work and our problems. But only if we invite him to walk with us.

The truth is that we were yoked with Jesus at our Baptism. But at Baptism we were also yoked to one another. That is why we so often start a bible reading with Brothers and sisters. Too often we may not notice this because so many of us may see religion and faith from a personal and individualistic point of view. If we focus too much on 'ME AND JESUS we lose track of what happens when at Baptism we were truly YOKED to one another. And the food that keeps us strong in faith is the wonderful Holy Eucharist that we eat at the holy table of the Lord. When we are dismissed at the end of this Mass, we leave this church, not to be scattered without help, but with the support of one another.

On the other hand take the example of a little child. A child does not have worry about making a living, preparing meals, washing cloths, paying bills, cleaning the house, or of shopping. So in comparison to an adult a child has no worries because the child trusts his or her needs will be taken care of by parents. As a result a child finds everything new; life is exciting, it is fresh even with the same toys or same people.

Jesus is not telling us to be childish, but to be child like , and if we are then we let go of the burdens of life, or we believe and trust that God can help us with them. We pray today: YES LORD COME AND MAKE OUR BURDENS EASIER. MAKE OUR YOKE LIGHTER. REST OUR SOULS.