14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 5, 2020

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Gospel: Matthew 11:25–30

Theme: Jesus lifts our burdens

Matthew 11:25–30

At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,* and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Music Meditations

Companions for the Journey

What is a Yoke?

We are not talking about the inside part of an egg, but a wooden frame fitted on working animals to evenly balance the load it has to carry. Unfortunately, the Jews of Jesus’ time felt the double yoke--the double burden of civil rules and religious strictures.

Judea was ruled by Roman authorities and puppet kings, both of whom took advantage of the ordinary Jews through fear and exploitation. Any group who angered the puppet king was subject to massacre or wholesale punishments which were fearsome.

Many lived in fear that the exemption from certain religious practices of Rome would be revoked, that Jews would then be labeled atheists, and subject to capital punishment. Fewer than 3% of the population lived well, and over 70% lived at subsistence level or below. There was no safety net for the poor, for the widows, for the ill, the orphaned, the unlucky. Diseases brought on by poverty were devastating and alienated people from comfort or care. People died young leaving elderly parents who had no one to care for them or wives and children who had no means of support. In an agrarian society such as this one, the success of the crops depended a lot on luck and the vagaries of the weather in a fairly arid climate. Much of what was grown was either confiscated or taxed, which left most eking out a hardscrabble existence. Each time new taxes were levied, whether to fund the lifestyles of the ruling elite, or to fund the building and maintenance projects of such a vast and growing empire, and the personal coffers of the Roman rulers, the yoke on the individual got heavier and heavier.

Many of the Jewish traditions and strictures were also burdensome. Especially to the poor: there we 613 rules in the Torah, and it was hard to keep track of them all, much less obey all. Religious strictures around ritual cleanliness and forbidden foods placed an unequal burden on those who found it economically difficult or physical impossible to follow. The rules governing the Sabbath were especially strict: no cooking or cleaning from sunset on the eve of the Sabbath until 24 hours later; no work of any kind; no fires could be lit; fasting from early evening until the next morning, etc.etc. Then there was tithing to the Temple authorities, as well as the required yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem which was both dangerous and expensive. (The route between Galilee and Jerusalem ran through the no-man’s-land of Samaria, where bandits abounded and where the non-Samaritan Jews were robbed, beaten, and even killed.) When a pilgrim did manage to reach Jerusalem, there was the matter of safety while sleeping and eating with other pilgrims, and there was the problem of seriously inflated prices for the animals which were required for ritual sacrifice, and were required to be purchased there. Finally, there was the fear that ordinary people would get caught in the crossfire between the various religious factions that often despised one another.

The present time carries burdens of its own. The rise in economic inequality in the US is tied to technological change, globalization, decline of unions and the eroding value of the minimum wage. Much wealth is concentrated in the hand of the 1%, and the middle class is said to be eroding. This means that many people may experience reduced economic opportunity and less mobility in the face of mounting inequality. This leads to economic and educational segregation, and diminishing political influence of those not in the top 1%. This generation of young people are said to be much less optimistic about life than the prior several generations. Research has shown that the wider the economic disparity, the greater the polarization between political, religious and social groups.

Our Church, thank God, has often been there for us with of words of love and inclusion, with the joy of the sacraments, with words, music and ritual to sustain us in times of pain and uncertainty. Some of the great saints and religious writers have been beacons of hope and wisdom in the darkness. However, we must acknowledge that, particularly in the past, the Church had been known to place burdens of guilt and exclusion on those whom it had deemed to be breaking the rules—everything from barring those not “properly and respectfully” dressed from attending Mass to refusing the Eucharist to those who defied the rules publically or privately. In between, writings from church authorities and screeds from the pulpit have excoriated unmarried mothers, gays, those who could not physically or economically have more children, divorced and remarried Catholics, “feminists”, and the like.

Jesus’ words remind us that he came to help us shoulder our burdens, to comfort us when we are rejected, and to show us God’s love and care. This is not to say that his own words were not sometimes hard to hear: “Love those who hate you; do good to those who hurt you; forgive seventy times seven; do not judge others.” But if we understand that these are words of encouragement, of belief that we always can be better and do better, we will see that they are meant to free us, not entrap us. They are meant to inspire us to develop spiritual and moral courage. Jesus’ yoke helps us hold our tongue or to choose encouraging words, to be giving to a person in material need, giving another the benefit of the doubt, keeping close to Jesus in prayer. An easy yoke means we are not afflicted by an onslaught of greed, envy, resentment, or hardness of heart. Jesus’ yoke is the joy of a quiet conscience. And the overriding message of Jesus is always that we are loved, appreciated, honored by God. God only wants what is best for us—our joy, our happiness, our peace. Jesus’ becoming human like us is a testament to God’s great desire to walk with humanity and know humanity’s trials from the inside out. Our burdens, whatever they may be, are made lighter by the conviction that we are God’s own; we are beloved, no matter what. We are invited to let go and let God be in control of the events. We need to resign as general managers of the universe.

A teacher, after reading this gospel section, asked the students: “What is the yoke God puts on us?”.

A little girl answered: “It is God putting his arms around our necks and giving us a hug”.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today's session…

My yoke is easy and my burden light

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today's reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • How am I burdened by the unknown?
    Do I talk to God honestly about what is worrying me?
    Is there resistance in me to sharing this with Jesus?
    What causes this resistance (shame, guilt, pride, stubbornness)?
  • Do I consider myself one of Jesus’ “little ones”?
    What would give me “rest”?
  • Being really angry with someone is a deep burden. Can I bring my troubles and failings in this regard to Jesus?
  • Do I think Jesus understands weaknesses, struggles or disappointments?
    Did he have any in his life?
    What can I learn about better behavior from watching Jesus?
  • How can prayer give me perspective?
    How can prayer lead to acceptance?
  • What do I really want? What are my deepest desires? Are they a comfort or a burden to me?
  • Are there religious or civil rules that are personally burdensome and troubling to me?
  • Do I know of someone who is particularly burdened right now?
  • What is my personal comfort zone (what situations have to exist for me to avoid stress)?
    Am I out of my comfort zone often? Right now?
  • How does lack of control over the events of one’s life become a burden?
    How great is my need for control?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

We can divide our human burdens into three categories.

The first is the burden of daily irritations—standing in line at the post office, wearing a mask outside, being on endless hold listening to bad elevator music, trying to figure out legal forms, watching bad behavior of an out-of-control child, being the embarrassed parent of said child. The list goes on. And the more stressed we are, the more these irritations are, well, IRRITATING!

The second burden includes some serious worries like money, illness, job loss, a bad relationship, hurts we can’t heal, anger that won’t go away. Some of these issues may be ours or they may be serious issues for someone we love. In any event, these things burden us and sometimes, make us a burden to others.

The third burden runs the deepest, often because we suppress it. It is the burden of personal identity. Who am I? We live in a world that tells us we are what we have; we are what we do; we are what we look like; we are what degrees we possess; we are what others say about us. We put an awful lot of energy into maintaining our beliefs about identity. It is exhausting. And scary. What happens when I lose what I have, lose what I do, or lose what I look like? What happens when I have shaped my identity to impress or please others? How does this erode my sense of my true self? Jesus’ temptation in the Desert was basically all about these identity issues. How did he respond? What difference did it make to Jesus what others said about him? How did his relationship with his father (His ABBA) sustain him in difficult and burdensome times?

Questions:
Which of these burdens is troubling me most right now?
Do I believe that God wishes to lighten my personal burden?
Do I believe I am beloved of God?
Do I believe that what I have or do does not matter to God?

Prayer:
I ask God for the reassurance of being blessed
I ask God for patience with myself and others
I ask God for hope: trust that God is looking out for me

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

This Sunday’s psalm is 145. It is a message of hope in these troubled days. Read it to yourself several times, picking out the phrases which have the most meaning for you. Then write your own thank-you note to God for the times you have been sustained when you have felt burdened or troubled:

Psalm 145

1I will extol you, my God and king, and bless your name forever and ever.
2I will bless you day after day, and praise your name forever and ever.
3The LORD is great and highly to be praised; his greatness cannot be measured.
4Age to age shall proclaim your works, shall declare your mighty deeds.
5They will tell of your great glory and splendor, and recount your wonderful works.
6They will speak of your awesome deeds, recount your greatness and might.
7They will recall your abundant goodness, and sing of your just deeds with joy.
8The LORD is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in mercy.
9How good is the LORD to all, compassionate to all his creatures.
10All your works shall thank you, O LORD, and all your faithful ones bless you.
11They shall speak of the glory of your reign, and declare your mighty deeds,
12To make known your might to the children of men, and the glorious splendor of your reign.
13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your rule endures for all generations.
The LORD is faithful in all his words, and holy in all his deeds.
14The LORD supports all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down.
15The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
16You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17The LORD is just in all his ways, and holy in all his deeds.
18The LORD is close to all who call him, who call on him in truth.
19He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and he saves them.
20The LORD keeps watch over all who love him; the wicked he will utterly destroy.
21Let my mouth speak the praise of the LORD; let all flesh bless his holy name forever, for ages unending.

Poetic Reflection:

This poem from Ed Ingebretzen, S.J. reminds us that God does not wish to burden us, but to comfort and mother us:

“From Narrow Places”

From narrow places
the strength of our voice
rises:

our every breath
is prayer,
the great poem of need,
a constant scattering
of praise.

Early
we reach to God
in the claim of our hearts,
while he,
our father,
mothers us
in his