Thursday, July 20, 2017
15th Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Ex 3:13-20
Gospel:
Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus spoke thus, “Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is good and my burden is light.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
The Jews came to Jesus expecting relief from the pressures of life. But too soon they realized that following him was an uphill climb to Calvary. For this they abandoned him. But even as the number of his followers was dwindling Jesus did not revise his requirements. He was emphatic in saying, “Anyone who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Anyone wanting to be Jesus’ follower must practice self-denial and carry his cross, and then follow in his footsteps. (Mark 8:34-35).
Yet Jesus was not a sadistic master altogether. He knew how to give followers a break. He said, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life” (Matt. 19:29). Priests see this promise slowly coming to life year after year in their ministry. They end up having many families adopting them as members of their own, many houses open anytime when they need assistance for the apostolate, and so many brothers and sisters that stand by them in times of crisis.
So let us not be afraid to follow Jesus. He knows how to take care of us. He even lightens our burden. He won’t remove the burden though, since the cross is an important emblem of discipleship. But he can make the journey meaningful for us even without removing our cross. By teaching us to love more in challenging situations, by making us humble, and by modeling the way, Jesus offers us the strength of character to come out stronger from crisis.
In teaching us to love more in trying moments he lightens our burdens. Loads are much lighter to carry when the heart is generous. His lesson on humility lightens our load too. He says: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest”. Not seeing the wisdom of an ordeal will make that ordeal bigger than what it actually is. When like Jesus we are humble, our eyes open up to the meaning of sufferings and we begin to understand the meaning of the cross.
Finally, our burden becomes lighter when we see how Jesus embraced sufferings without rancor. If our master did not spare himself from sufferings, should we ask for an exemption? – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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