14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 11:25-30
I think all of us have mobile phones, whether that’s in the form of a smart phone or just a simple mobile phone that you can call and text. But whatever that maybe once in a while depending on one’s usage it has to be recharged. Some of us have bought some spare batteries or spare power sources so that we can use still use our phones with extra power if their batteries run out. However, even if we have heaps of that time will come that we have to recharge them.
The same is with us human beings, it is believed that we might be able to last for up to seven days without food but definitely not three days without sleep. Sleep gives rest to our bodies. After a whole day’s of work, scientists believe that we need at least eight hours of sleep to be able to fully recover from all those waking hours.
In the gospel for today, Jesus is inviting us to rest. In a world that is ever becoming so busy, Jesus invites us to come to him and rest. When I arrived in Manila last month, the quickest and the cheapest way to go from place to place is riding the MRT (Metro Rail Transit) in EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue). However, I noticed that unlike the last time I was riding it three years ago, it is ALWAYS full not only during rush hour but any time of the day. And in the mad rush of traffic, if you have a car, you can get stuck in the traffic jam for hours on end. It only shows how busy people are now.
In the gospel, Jesus presents himself as the source of our power and strength. He wants us to come to him when we feel tired and we want to refresh ourselves. That is why we have to go to church every Sunday because that is the purpose of a Sunday. When God in the book of Genesis ordained the Sabbath and make it holy, his purpose is to make this day a rest day. After six days of work, he wants us to refresh ourselves by making the seventh day a time of rest and worship to God.
In the time of Christ, to till the soil they use a yoke and this is placed on two oxen so that it can be guided to move properly while it is tilling the soil. For us priests, the yoke of Christ that he gives us as a sign of our responsibility is our stole, the piece of cloth that is placed around the priest’s neck whenever he celebrates mass or other liturgical celebration. In the gospel, Jesus identified that one of the reasons why people grew tired is because of the heavy burdens of duty that is placed on the Jews by the Pharisees and scribes. During the time of Christ, if you want to be an observant Jew, you have to follow aside from the Ten Commandments, you have to observe more than 613 laws!!! For Jesus, he saw this as unnecessary burden that is placed on the shoulders of Jews. For Jesus, he wants to simplify the lives of the Jews, that instead of observing all those 613 laws, he reduced it to not just 10 but down to two! For Jesus, if we love God with all our heart, with all our mind and with all our strength and we love our neighbour as ourselves. For Jesus, if we do all these things then it is enough.
That’s why in the gospel, Jesus tells us to take up his yoke, because the burden is light. Jesus will never remove the yoke from us because we all have to do our part in our journey towards the kingdom of heaven. But Jesus gives us a yoke that is far better. A yoke that we can carry. A yoke that will make us closer to God and closer to the kingdom of heaven.