14th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

Sunday 9 July 2023
Matt 11:25-30

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”.
(Matthew 11:28-30)

Matthew’s Gospel is the only gospel that records this particular invite which Jesus extends to those who are tired and oppressed. He tells them to go to Him and take up His yoke. The word ‘yoke’ isn’t found in any other verse in the Gospels, and indicates a shaped wooden tool placed on the shoulder of animals to put them to work in pairs. In the Bible, this word is used predominantly allegorically, indicating the oppression of slavery, both in the Old and New Testament. During the so-called first Church Council, the apostles and elders gathered to decide on what should happen with the Law of Moses. In this context, Peter affirms that, “now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10). In this context, it is clear that the yoke refers to the Law. Peter continues by saying that everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike, are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.

Well, Jesus invites us to take His yoke upon ourselves: His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Zugòs is the Greek word for yoke, and by adding the preposition sun– (meaning ‘with) we form the term suzugos, meaning companion, as well as husband/wife. So, the husband and wife carries the one yoke, walking at the same pace and always together: it is the yoke of matrimonial friendship.

Jesus, then, offers us HIS yoke. He knows well that a person is subject to different yokes: the yoke of a worldly mentality, of self-centredness , of sin… Once again, Jesus invites us and urges us to decide, personally, and not out of tradition!: “you’re either with me or against me” (cfr. Matt 12:30); Either His yoke of love, founded on freedom, or the yoke that binds us in slavery; either the narrow gate (Matt 7:13), which is Christ Himself, or the wide gate, which is every other option. By carrying this yoke, together with Him, we become conjoined companions. And we really live the law of love, “enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). We aren’t alone in bearing the weight. Actually, it is Jesus who carries it, and His is the only yoke that is the source of happiness. Francis of Assisi understood well the sweetness of the Lord’s yoke, saying in his famous prayer “it is in giving that we receive… in pardoning that we are pardoned… in dying that we are raised to Eternal Life”!

Fr. Giuseppe