God lightens our burden

Thursday, July 17, 2014
15th Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading:
Is 26:7-9, 12, 16-19 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. To their surprise, they found out 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 follow him must deny himself, take up his cross and follow in his footsteps. (Mark 8:34-35).

To the consolation his followers, Jesus was a good master who knew how to give them a break. To them he made good this assurance: “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). I have seen this promise slowly coming to life year after year in my priesthood. I now have so many brothers and sisters to rely upon in trying moments.

Let us not be afraid to follow Jesus because he knows how to look after our welfare. We can rightly bank on his promise in today’s Gospel that he will lighten our burden and will give us rest. He doesn’t promise to remove all burdens though. 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 infuses in us the strength of character to come out stronger from any critical situation.
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? – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.

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