Christ the Cornerstone

Find peace and joy as Jesus relieves our burdens

“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” (Mt 11:28-30).

Last weekend, we celebrated the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mt 11:25-30). The Gospel we read contains one of the paradoxes of Jesus’ teaching.

On the one hand, he invites all who are anxious and weary to come to him to find rest. On the other hand, he requires that we accept an additional burden (his “yoke”) and learn from him. In other words, to relieve ourselves of the burdens we are afflicted with (physical, mental or spiritual), we must commit ourselves to “taking up our cross” and following Jesus no matter how much it costs us.

A “yoke” is a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to a plow or cart that they are to pull. It is not something that is used to harness a single beast of burden. A yoke helps its bearers to work together to achieve their purpose. It can be seen as an analogy for the kind of discipline that liberates us from the chaos and disorder that prevent us from collaborating in our efforts to build a better world.

Jesus assures us that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. Still, we too often resist surrendering our will to God. Jesus experienced this same human resistance, but he overcame it. As a result, he suffered the cross, the greatest burden imaginable. In the end, however, he triumphed over life’s greatest obstacles—sin and death. Now, he invites us to do the same—to “let go and let God” and to freely accept a sacrificial love that is much more liberating than burdensome.

As St. Paul told us in the second reading (Rom 8:9, 11-13), it is the Holy Spirit that transforms the burdens we freely take on as missionary disciples of Jesus and frees us from sin and death. “If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,” Paul says, “the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Rom 8:11). If we open our minds and hearts to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, no weight will be too much for us to carry. And if we see in our sisters and brothers the same Spirit, we will be moved to join with them in carrying our burdens lightly and easily as Jesus has promised.

The first reading for last Sunday in the Book of Zechariah described the joy that we are invited to experience once we have surrendered our difficulties to God and accepted the responsibilities that come with fidelity to God’s will. As the prophet proclaims:

Thus says the Lord: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass. He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; the warrior’s bow shall be banished, and he shall proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. (Zec 9:9-10)

Peace and joy are the fruits of our labor as men and women who collaborate with Jesus in his saving work. Meekness and humility, not aggressive forms of pride and self-will, are what lift us from our daily preoccupations. Above all, care and concern for the needs of others free us from self-pity and the preoccupation with our own difficulties whatever they may be.

Paradoxically, the burden that Jesus imposes on us is not burdensome. The “easy” yoke that he asks us to bear is not difficult; it is meant to keep us all together, pulling in the right direction, as we continue the Lord’s saving work in our world. With Jesus, we are invited to pray: “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 little ones” (Mt 11:25).

Together, let’s rejoice in the burden that God’s love imposes on us. Let’s shout for joy that we are bound together—in freedom—and given the magnificent opportunity to proclaim peace to the nations and comfort to all who are weary.

Christ’s yoke is easy, and his burden is light. Let us rejoice in him now and always! †