Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/070311.shtml

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Life isn’t easy. This isn’t a surprise to anyone, not if you’ve ever played sports, or been hurt by someone you love. It’s not easy when we lose our jobs and can’t find work, and it’s not easy when we’re sick and can’t do anything about it. There doesn’t even have to be anything terribly wrong in life for it to be hard; we suffer when we’re lonely, when we don’t know what to do, or make a mistake that hurts someone else. And every day we stumble in sin.

Life isn’t easy for people with addictions, who struggle every day to master themselves. Life isn’t easy for those who are trying to stay chaste. And in a thousand different ways we can keep going with a laundry list of things that make life hard, and we are all Christians. So when Jesus says “my yoke is easy, and my burden light,” it is one of the most frustrating things we can hear. What does it mean?

It means we are different if Christ is in our lives, and we live by the Spirit. Even though the Spirit of God lives in us, we still cling to the life of the flesh. And Paul doesn’t mean physical flesh, but everything the world embraces. When celebrities encourage us to act like them, that is life according to flesh; when we think success means wealth, or fame, or recognition, that is life according to the flesh. When we try to do things without God, that is life according the flesh.

We have been given the Spirit of God inside of us. We believe that all things are possible with Christ who strengthens us. This is not something the people who are successful in the world can teach us. This is something that people who are weak, the “little ones” who relied on Christ can teach us.

We are not strong enough. We are not strong enough to overcome addiction, to take care of our families, to serve God without God.

Sometimes it feels like a cliché to talk about relying on God. But it’s amazing; when we start praying more, not just once a day but throughout our day; when we start asking Jesus for help things do become easier. Sadness lightens up a little bit, and we can endure.

But this is when we put ourselves under His yoke. When we try to do things outside of what God wants for us, things feel more like we are swimming upstream. Following God means following God, and sometimes that means going where we are afraid to go. Sometimes we are afraid to tithe, to follow God’s call to marriage or the religious life. Sometimes we are afraid to forgive people who have hurt us, and sometimes we are afraid to reach out to someone who needs our help.

Make no mistake, following God isn’t always easy, and there are plenty of saints who have suffered. But knowing Jesus means not being alone; it means having someone who loves you to suffer with you, and support you. Trust in God and the things you need will come.

Faith is hard, because we struggle so much with giving up control. But for all of us who struggle and are overburdened, giving up control is exactly what we need to do. Fighting against God will wear us out and leave us unsatisfied. But in Jesus Christ there is rest, and balm in Gilead. “For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”