14^th Sunday-A

Lord Jesus, you lived in the Father's glory and you humbled yourself by becoming human with us:

Jesus Christ, Son of the Father in heaven, you made yourself poor with us:

Lord Jesus, you are the Master, and yet you made yourself our servant:

-Humble of heart, Lord have mercy

-Rest for the weary

-Strength for those who know they are weak

Intercessory Prayer:

Lord, you make us humble and receptive, that we may be open to the Good News, for you show yourself to those who are aware of their poverty. Fill that poverty with your tenderness and with the trust that you care for us. Let your peace and rest dwell in us even in the struggles of life, as we try to be good disciples of Jesus. We ask you this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Prayer After Communion

Lord of heaven and earth, we praise you for showing yourself to us in the gentle and humble heart of Jesus. Uplifted by his word and his bread of life may we admit how poor and little we are and learn to give time and attention to the weary. May we speak your encouraging word to them, that all who seek you may find among us your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

THE PARADOX OF TODAY

We have increased our possessions,

But have reduced our values;

Many have higher incomes, but lower morals.

We have more quantity, but are short on quality,

Some have more to eat, but get less nutrition.

We have learnt to make a living,

But not learnt how to live.

We have added years to life,

But not life to years.

Many have more leisure, but less good fun.

We can travel long distances,

But have trouble crossing the streets!

-This age is a time when technology

Can bring this message to you quickly,

But only YOU can decide to act

And make a difference,

OR you can just hit the `delete' key!

 Lord Jesus, give us the child-like simplicity and purity of faith to gaze upon your face with joy and confidence in your all-merciful love. Remove every doubt, fear, and proud thought which would hinder us from receiving your word with trust and humble submission.

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What joy these words of Jesus bring to our souls, especially when we are going through difficult times. "Come to me," Jesus says, especially when you are world-weary, anxious or heavily-burdened. "Come to me," Jesus says, and find the peace that this world cannot bring.

Jesus knows the difficulties that we face in this life, and He stands ready to help us to bear these difficult crosses. When we turn to Him in our times of trial we find that the Lord keeps His promises, and that He never leaves His faithful ones disappointed.

Many of us try to play the Christian but after a few setbacks give up the struggle and become our usual dull selves. Christ has considered that possibility. Tantalizingly He says today, "Come to me, all you who are to turn our burdens over to him and to allow him to refresh us.

Burned-out and find life tough and I will renew you." This is a clear invitation to hang out and waste time with God. Remember, though, as a commentator put it, He promised us a safe landing, not smooth sailing. Help me, dear God, says one pilgrim, to stop believing I'm in charge and you are but my third assistant coach.

Jesus says, “Give me all your problems and all your concerns, your many difficulties and trust me.”  Turn it all over to the Lord, your feelings of being overwhelmed with financial burdens, the down times in your marriage, the boring aspects of your job, your continual concern for your children, your health concerns, parents or children or your own health.  Turn it all over to the Lord and be at peace.  Have faith that no matter what happens, if you have union with the Lord, all will be well.

In it Jesus turns upside down all the preconceived notions of his listeners. The inner secrets of the Kingdom of God are not revealed to the so-called learned and wise but to mere children, literally to infants or babies.

By this Christ reveals that the Priests and Scribes and Pharisees, despite their privileged position in society and all their book-learning, really know nothing of any significance about the workings of God in the world. Instead it is the poor, the lowly the meek of heart to whom these special insights have been revealed.

It is the widow with her mite, the sinner in the back row, the blind man at the pool; it is these poor and apparently hopeless people who are going about things the right way. It is these who will enter the Kingdom before any religious know-it-alls.

Then Jesus makes the most extraordinary appeal, one so heart-felt that it echoes down the centuries and churns up our hearts even today, Come to me all you who are overburdened and I will give you rest!

Jesus opens wide his arms to the poor, the meek and the lowly through all generations and draws them to himself. He has come not to open the door for the privileged and the learned. No, he has come to open the door for the overburdened, the broken-hearted, the deprived and all those who suffer.

In him they will find consolation and rest, for as he says, his yoke is easy and his burden light, not like the heavy yoke of the religious law imposed on the people by the Scribes and Pharisees.

In this way Jesus opens his arms in love to the poor and the lowly, it is what modern theologians call the preferential option for the poor.

The English word humility comes from the Latin word humus meaning earth. The word therefore means being close to the earth or, to put it better, being true to what we are. And I think that is the clue—being true to what we are.

When Jesus says that "these things" are revealed only to the humble and unassuming, he is referring to the revelation that he received from the Father and now offers to all of us. This revelation is nothing less than a message about the real meaning and purpose of our lives. And since it concerns how we love and serve and forgive, it is hidden from those who want to control life by means of their human knowledge, rather than to subordinate that knowledge to the higher wisdom of love and generosity. It is only thus that one can come to know Jesus as the one who reveals the wisdom and the gift of the Father.

In the second segment, Jesus reminds us that accepting his wisdom of loving service will indeed mean submitting to the yoke of discipline and sacrifice. But it will be a sweet yoke, first of all because we bear it with Jesus, and then because it is a burden that has meaning since it is carried with love.

Two things about a yoke. First, yokes were custom made for each ox. They were carved of solid wood, form fitted so well that the yoke would not rub sores on the ox’s shoulders. Wearing a yoke was like having on an old pair of shoes.

Second, the yokes allow the two animals to pull together. Work is shared, and when day is done, the oxen are tired, but not exhausted.

Years passed. One day Father Damien held up his hands at Mass. With a smile from his heart he said: "I now am one of you." Damien had become a leper himself. Why did he smile? Because, who understands our problems better than someone who has endured our pain? His love for the lepers reached new depths. As a leper himself, Damien understood the dreadful life a leper lived. Father Damien loved his neighbor, his neighbor the leper, as he loved himself.

I asked an 8-year old American in Iceland how long it took her to learn Icelandic (she was the best in the family at it).  She replied, “A day or two days, or a week.”  In other words she didn’t think about it at all; she just played with her Icelandic friends.  Children learn spontaneously; but adults proceed “by rule and method.”  We need handbooks for everything because we have lost the capacity for direct experience. 

While an adult stands back to analyse something, a child just becomes one with it.  We have so venerated the analytical mind that the other faculties are scarcely taken into account at all.  I have known people who were intellectually gifted but incapable of looking after themselves or anyone else.  Far from seeing this as an embarrassment, we make it a badge of honour: we may laugh at him but we secretly revere the absent-minded professor.  But as Chesterton said, “A madman is not someone who has lost his mind; he is someone who has lost everything except his mind.” 

What does the yoke of Jesus refer to in the gospel? The Jews used the image of a yoke to express submission to God. They spoke of the yoke of the law, the yoke of the commandments, the yoke of the kingdom, the yoke of God. Jesus  says his yoke is "easy".  The Greek word for "easy" can also mean "well-fitting". Yokes were tailor-made to fit the oxen well. We are commanded to put on the "sweet yoke of Jesus" and to live the "heavenly way of life and happiness". Jesus also says his "burden is light". There's a story of a man who once met a boy carrying a smaller crippled lad on his back. "That's a heavy load you are carrying there," exclaimed the man. "He ain't heavy; he's my brother!" responded the boy. No burden is too heavy when it's given in love and carried in love. Jesus offers us a new kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy. In his kingdom sins are not only forgiven but removed, and eternal life is poured out for all its citizens. This is not a political kingdom, but a spiritual one. The yoke of Christ's kingdom, his kingly rule and way of life, liberates us from the burden of guilt and from the oppression of sin and hurtful desires. Only Jesus can lift the burden of sin and the weight of hopelessness from us. Jesus used the analogy of a yoke to explain how we can exchange the burden of sin and despair for a burden of glory and yoke of freedom from sin.  The yoke which Jesus invites us to embrace is his way of grace and freedom from the power of sin.  Do you trust in God's love and submit to his will and plan for your life?