The Gospel Reading for the 14th Sunday in
Ordinary Time on Cycle A (Matthew 11:25-30), which is the same text of the
Gospel Reading for the Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cycle A) on
Friday of the week of Corpus Christi Sunday. To most of us, these words of
Jesus from the Gospel text are very familiar:
“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” (Matthew
11:28-30).
Jesus is calling and inviting us to come to him to
yoke with him, replacing heavy yokes imposed by self-righteous false teachers,
who makes our religious practice a burden rather than a joy. It is because the
teaching of Jesus is to share his joy with you so that our joy may be complete
(John 15:11). So, if you have been
feeling being Catholic is a drag, then, these words of Jesus are something you
can reflect on so that you won’t become so-called a “recovering Catholic”. Being a Catholic is
not a disease like alcoholism. It is a joy to be Catholic. And, for us to be
joyous Catholic, we need to be yoked together with Jesus!
The Greek word used for “yoke” in the original Gospel
text is ζυγός (zygos), which
literally means a wooden bar to pair two farm animals together to work together.
Figuratively, it means to unite as one. So, a man and a woman yoked together as
one flesh (Genesis 2:24) by sharing the yoke of love, as they become husband
and wife through the Sacrament of Matrimony, just as we, the Church, may become
one with Christ as his bride (Ephesians 5:25; Revelation 19:7-9; 21:2), just as
he is one with the Father (John 10:30, 38; 14:20; 17:21). Therefore, being
yoked with Jesus means that be drawn closer to the one who has sent him, the
Father in heaven – being united with Trinity
as we yoke ourselves with Jesus, the Son. And, this yoked unity with
Christ brings us in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the center of the embodiment of
the love of God, who is love (1 John 4:8, 16).
That is why a general theme for the Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of
Jesus on Cycle A is God’s love, as the same Gospel Text for the 14th
Sunday on Cycle A (Matthew 11:25-30) is read along with Deuteronomy 7:6-11;
Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 10; 1 John 4:7-16.
For Cycle A, we reflect Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
as the heart of God, who is love. And, as St. Augustine wrote in his
Confession, it is where our restlessness ceases and gives way to restfulness
and peace.
Now, reading the same Gospel text (Matthew 11:25-30)
for the 14th Sunday, together with Zechariah 9:9-10 (First Reading),
Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14 (Responsorial Psalm); Romans 8:9, 11-13
(Second Reading), we reflect other things we can enjoy, along with love of God,
as we yoke ourselves with Jesus.
First, the Gospel text (Matthew 11:25-30) comes with
two themes: Jesus praising the Father for keeping His wisdom from the arrogant
self-righteous but reveals to the humble (vv. 25-27) and Jesus calls us,
especially as we are burdened with legalistic religious teachings, to give the heavy
yoke imposed on us to him and to take his light one, as we are yoked as one
with him (vv. 28-30). Jesus surely knows that those who are self-righteous for
their own wisdom and learning in their own secular world are blind to the
Father’s wisdom. This is well-reflected in John 9, as Jesus rebukes those who
called his sign of healing a man born blind a blasphemy, blind. They are blind
the truth in Jesus. And our ego, which makes us pride and self-righteous and
even narcissistic is a major blinder to the truth, which is Christ himself (John
14:6). But, Jesus is more than the truth. He himself is the wisdom, ever since
before the Creation, the wisdom incarnate (cf. Proverbs 8:22-31). So, those who
are self-righteous enough to say, “Why do I need Christ? Why do I need God?
Only those who lack something in themselves need God or Messiah. They are
rather in tune with Freud, who associated a religion with those are with “feeble
mind” in his 1929 book, “Civilization and Its Discontents”.
Perhaps, in the eyes of arrogance and
self-righteousness, those who seek God in Christ, are nothing but the “feeble
minded”. But, in the eyes of Christ, they are the humble, to whom the Father
reveals His wisdom, while He has made the wisdom unrecognizable to the
self-righteous. And, the wisdom is Christ, the Son, embodied in Jesus.
Therefore, to those whom the Father reveals His wisdom, they can joyfully
recognize Jesus as the living Christ, besides the truth. And this is an
absolutely necessary condition for us to be disciples of Christ to be sent as
his apostles to engage both in the spiritual and corporal works of mercy,
including evangelization, catechization, and charismatization, to keep the
growing body of Christ, the Church, healthy and active to be yoked with Christ
as his bride.
So, by yoking ourselves with Christ, we can enjoy
the wisdom of the Father, as Christ himself is the Wisdom, besides Love, which
is the Triune God Himself. And, the First Reading (Zechariah 9:9-10) suggests,
as the Father enables us to recognize Jesus as the Christ, the Wisdom, then, we
know that he is rather easy to be yoked with, because he is meek enough to ride
on a donkey, though he is actually the mighty King to conquer the world with
his peace. But, if we are unable to recognize the truth and wisdom in this
Zechariah’s prophecy for Christ the King, because the Father keeps them away,
due to self-righteousness, we would mistakenly think of the Messiah King as some
kind of Zionist political king to conquer the world. And, during the trial of
Jesus, the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate was puzzled with the charge against
Jesus: the King of the Jews (John 18:33-37). Obviously, the Father in heaven
kept His away from him.
To those who are humble enough for the Father to
reveal His wisdom, and humble enough to yoke with Jesus the Christ, we will
enjoy being yoked with the mighty King, who is still humble enough to be yoked
as one with us! And we can joyfully sing the Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 145:1-2,
8-9, 10-11, 13-14), praising and blessing our mighty King, who is also merciful
and kind to raise us as we bow down to him for reverence, as to remind that we
are yoked as one. Therefore, because of his yoke on us, he can also lift us if
we are falling. How wonderful and joyful it is to be yoked with Jesus, the
mighty yet humble and merciful King, who is the Wisdom!
The Second Reading (Romans 8:9, 11-13) reminds us
that being yoked with Jesus also entitles us to a life in the Holy Spirit so
that we are entitled to eternal life, because the Holy Spirit is the giver of
life, as reflected in the Nicene Creed, reflecting Jesus’ words in John 6:63. And,
reflect this Second Reading text on Galatians 5:16-23, in terms of what it
means to live a life in the Holy Spirit as we yoke ourselves with Jesus. It
means that we are not living a life of sin, influenced by the flesh, but to be
able to bear the multifaceted fruit of the Holy Spirit! How great it is to live
a life so fruitful of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, as a result of yoking ourselves with
Jesus!
Further more, by juxtaposing the Second Reading (Romans 8:9, 11-13) to Romans 5:12-21, we also understand that living a life in the Holy Spirit for eternal life also means to live a life in Christ. By yoking ourselves with Jesus, we enjoy a life in the Holy Spirit and in Christ. Being united as one with Christ through his yoke entitles us to live a life in Christ so that we can live a life in the Holy Spirit, and Christ is Parakletos (1 John 2:1) and the Holy Spirit is another Parakletos (John 14:16, 26). What is in common in this juxtaposition of Parakletos essence that both Christ and the Holy Spirit share. And, we yoke ourselves with Parakletos, indeed for eternal life, the multifaceted fruit of the Holy Spirit, the wisdom, and peace.
Now we know that taking the light yoke of Jesus,
upon giving heavy yoke, under which we have suffered, gives us more than peace
in his Most Sacred Heart but also the wisdom of the Father, as well as a life
in the Holy Spirit to live a life more like Jesus as we bear the multifaceted
fruit of the Holy Spirit, while inheriting eternal life. But, let us not forget
that we must be humble enough to learn and obey the law of Christ in the New
Covenant.
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