December 11, 2013
Wednesday, 2nd Week of Advent St. Damasus
1st Reading: Is 40:25–31
Gospel: Mt. 11:28-30
Jesus said to the crowds: “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)
Jesus’ invitation to heavily laden people to come to him struck deep in the hearts of his listeners who were burdened by the onerous laws of their religion. Actually Judaism only received Ten Commandments which Yahweh dictated to Moses at Mt. Sinai. But zeal for the observance of these commandments led to so many enabling rules to observe. The Rabbis themselves recognized how burdensome the Law had become when they used the term “yoke of Torah”.
Jesus offered them something less burdensome: the law of love. But it turned out to be just as burdensome because its practice buried most followers deep into the practice of faith. It enjoined followers to go deeper than avoiding murder by not getting angry at anyone; deeper than avoiding adultery by not looking lustfully at a woman (Matt. 5:21). It even required followers to love their enemies! The objective was to surpass the depth of spirituality of the Scribes and the Pharisees (Matt. 5:20).
In what sense then was Jesus’ commandment lighter? “Learn from me”, Jesus said, “for I am gentle and humble of heart”. Humility makes the difference. Proud people have many wounds to protect, many scars to hide and many vulnerabilities to defend. They are very sensitive. That is why they have many unnecessary sufferings. Any slight inconvenience can be too heavy for the proud. On the other hand humble people fear no fall because they are already on the ground; they fear no humiliation because they are already “reduced to the lowest terms”. The concerns of humble people are reduced to the essentials and they have no time to sulk over trivial matters. Moreover, they have God’s grace to rely on, having no personal strength to boast about.
We too are laboring under different yokes too heavy for us to carry. Let us learn humility from Jesus in order to survive. The following alphabet is an appropriate statement on the matter: “Arrogant believers callously denounce every failure. Go humble instead. Jesus knows. Life’s misfortunes never outdo Providence. Quit renouncing spirituality. Take up very willingly Xst’s yoke…” You can supply the missing letter z with your zeal in responding to Christ’s call to take up his yoke of love. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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