In the course of a year, I probably read this gospel passage more than any other because it is one of those provided for use during the sacrament of the sick. How timely that we hear this gospel passage in the midst of what is going on now. The number of patients ill with the Covid 19 virus is staggering. The number of new cases each day is unsettling.
As I said, I often read this passage when I am about to anoint someone who is ill. The translation I use is one that you heard years ago. “Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.”
When someone asked me recently how I felt, I confess that the word weary popped into mind. Five months ago, the coronavirus was an illness elsewhere. Little did any of us imagine back then how in such a short time, this virus would disrupt our lives, compelling us to alter our routines from shopping to socializing; from the manner we work to how we worship. Instead of fading into history now that summer is here, the bug is becoming even more prevalent. Who among us isn’t weary and finding all of this burdensome?
The uplifting news is that Jesus will refresh us. The image that comes to mind is the coach giving his team a pep talk. Picture them in the locker room at half time, somewhat dejected because they appear to be losing the game, so he is prepping them with a new game plan for the second half.
Jesus, our life coach, is encouraging us to take his yoke and learn from him. Admittedly, the image of a yoke seems so discouraging rather than refreshing, so I then invite the person being anointed to picture different kinds of yokes.
There is the typical yoke used on donkeys or oxen to pull a plow or cart. That sounds rather burdensome if you ask me. Another kind of yoke is used by a farmer on his shoulders to carry buckets of water or his harvest. Better yet, there is the yoke carried by two farmers to haul the harvest. That version reminds me that Jesus is offering to help us carry our load, especially when we are weary and find life burdensome.
So what then is the yoke he offers us? His law. Those who heard Jesus initially were burdened by the many rules laid down by the Pharisees, who had come up with over 600 based on the Torah to govern the lives of their fellow Jews. They saw themselves as wise and learned, comfortable with their own wisdom, but according to Jesus, they did not know God well. For example, for them not working on the Sabbath allowed for no unnecessary work, even swatting a fly.
Jesus replaced all that with the commandment to love, showing us that when we love we experience salvation. Imagine the difference love makes in your lives when love rather than self-centeredness motivates how you feel toward others and relate to them from the members of your own family to your friends to even the strangers in your midst. The yoke we must as his disciples take is the burden of love. Love is the antidote God offers us for overcoming sin and its consequences, which we find quite burdensome at times.
Take my yoke, Jesus tells us, and we will find rest. St. John Chrysostom once said, “Not this or that person, but all that are in anxiety, in sorrows, in sins. Come, not that I may call you to account, but that I may do away with your sins; come, not because I want your honor, but because I want your salvation. ‘And I,’ says he, ‘will give you rest.’” This saint’s advice is as timely today for us as it was 1600 years ago.
“Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.” Unlike the many regulations of the Pharisees, the yoke that Jesus offers us is not complicated or difficult to understand and carry out. His yoke provides a discipline of simplicity that will yield harmony and joy in our lives and the lives of others.
Unlike the multitude of protests going on, resulting in much violence and hurt, his yoke provides the source of the widespread peace we all yearn for. If we begin to live and relate to one another with compassion and love, we shall experience the coming of the peaceable kingdom.
Deep down we all yearn for peace; not only the elusive peace that signals the end of conflict, but also peace within our personal lives as well. That peace can be found when we heed our coach’s advice. Take up his yoke of love, compassion and forgiveness. Cast aside those burdens that are robbing you of peace. “Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will give you rest!” No one else can make that claim.