Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”

 

Gospel Reading: Matthew 11:28-30

 

Jesus said: "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."

 

Do you think that the first response from his disciples was, “Yeah, right.  Following you is going to lead us into self sacrifice and turmoil with our friends.”  Yet the reality is we actually find true peace and happiness even in the face of resistance and hatred by others.  We are told to take up the yoke of the Lord “[f]or my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” To help ease the load on the oxen, each ox had its own tailor made yoke. One specially made to fit their build.  The craftsmen took the time to make sure it fit perfectly so as not to burden the ox.   Jesus tells us that he will help us with our load if we will take up his yoke. He has a tailor made yoke just for us designed to free us from the heavy burdens of life. Yokes are made for two. This makes room for both you and Christ. There is nothing we can do without the aid of Christ.  The sooner we accept this, the sooner we will realize that he truly does lighten our load.  Only if we are willing, Christ joins in to help us with our life which sets us free from the heavy burden of sin. Any other load is crushing and weighs us down. It is through Christ that we find our worries removed and we can truly experience the joy of being united with Christ.

 

We are all called to prepare for the coming of Christ and to open the doors to our soul to let in Christ. He comes to us through the Sacraments to lighten our load and to remove the burdens of sin which we place upon ourselves. We are nourished through the Eucharist which gives us the energy we need to go out into the world to pull our cart we call life.  Through the sacrament of reconciliation, our sins are not only forgiven, but removed from our cart. It is through the love of Christ that he relieves us from our burden. But we too have the option to lighten the load of others. We are called to forgive those who trespass against us. When we ask for forgiveness we are also called to give forgiveness. This forgiveness removes the burden which others have placed upon themselves. What a great place this world would be if we all forgave each other for all the sins that are committed. Take up the yoke of Christ and he will give you rest.

 

A Simple Prayer

 

Lord, my yoke is heavy and my load is burdensome.

Help me free myself from the burdens which hold me back

And give me strength to help free the burden placed on others.

 

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon