Wednesday of Week 2 of Advent – First Reading

Commentary on Isaiah 40:25-31

We continue our reading from the ‘Book of Consolation’ or ‘Second Isaiah’. Does God seem far away at times? Today’s reading invites us to go outside some clear night and look at the skies. Thousands of stars, each one a mighty sun, can be seen and they are only a tiny fraction of the uncountable number of stars in our universe. Imagine the greatness of the God who is creator and master of all these and who calls each single one by name!

However, far away from home and living in bitter exile, God’s people wonder if their God has forgotten about them. They seem to be comparing their God with the gods of their captors; their God is letting them down.

The people cry out in pain, asking why:

My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God?

Yet God is fully aware of his people’s situation and he will soon show his love and power as they return to their homeland:

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.

Even young people, with all their energy, can run out of steam:

…and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted…

But not those who wait for the Lord:

…for the Lord shall renew their strength [and]
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

The reading is a message for all those who feel that life is working against them. Some can sympathise with the words of the song:

“Into each life some rain must fall but too much is falling in mine…”

It must certainly have been the feeling of the Israelites as they languished far from home in a hostile and cruel land. And yet, their deliverance is very close.

The coming of Jesus for which we are now preparing makes the same promise and offers the same invitation in today’s Gospel:

Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (Matt 11:28)

Jesus reaffirms what Isaiah says, that we have a caring and tireless God who takes care of his own when he says:

I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(Matt 11:29)

Jesus does not promise painlessness, nor does he promise to take away every yoke, but he will share the burden with us. What Jesus does is to help us go through the pain, because he knows what we go through. He experienced a level of pain in his own life which we are not likely ever to have to face.

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Wednesday of Week 2 of Advent – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 11:28-30

In spite of what we at some times feel, both today’s First Reading and the Gospel remind us that our God is never far away, especially in times of trouble. In the Gospel, Jesus makes this promise and gives an invitation:

Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Jesus reaffirms what Isaiah says, that we have a caring and tireless God who looks after his own:

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus seems primarily to be referring to the burdens which the Mosaic Law laid on people, especially as interpreted by some of the scribes and Pharisees. Under them, it was next to impossible not to put a foot wrong somewhere. And, as they saw it, perfection in the eyes of God was the scrupulous observation of the tiniest obligation.

Jesus liberates us from all that. It does not mean that we do what we like, but all is now reduced to simply one commandment, the commandment to love God and all our brothers and sisters unconditionally. That is not always easy, but we will find that keeping the commandment of love has a liberating effect. It helps us to become the kind of people we were meant to be. In being a law-keeper, I take care of my own ‘perfection’. In following the law of love, I benefit, but my brother or sister benefits too.

Jesus does not say that if we go to him that we will have no more troubles, no more pain and no more disappointments. There will be ‘yokes’ to carry, but he will carry them with us.

It has been suggested that the ‘yoke’ Jesus is referring to is a double yoke used for two oxen pulling together. Jesus, then is saying that he carries the yoke together with us.

Jesus never promises to take away pain. What Jesus does is to help us go through the pain. A life without any pain, without any failure or disappointment, a life without difficulty or challenge, is no life. When children are so protected by doting parents that their every whim is answered and every negative feeling anticipated, what do we end up with but what some might call ‘spoiled brats’.

Jesus will not spoil us in that way. The challenges of life are necessary for us to grow and mature. But they are easier to bear when he carries them with us, when we know that we are never alone in our difficulties and sorrows. And, because of our own pains, we are in a much better position to help others carry their yokes of sorrow or pain or sickness. Strange as it may seem, it is probable that a world without pain would be a very selfish and individualistic one.

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