Thursday of Week 15 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 11:28-30

The Gospel in many of its passages is very demanding and requires an unconditional commitment to the following of Christ.  We have seen that clearly in the contrast Jesus made between the demands of the Law and what he expected from his followers.  But again and again, that is balanced by the other side of God—his compassion and his understanding of our weakness and frailty.

Today Jesus invites:

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

He seems to be referring to the burden of the Law and the many other legalistic observances which had accumulated over the generations.  In fact there was a common rabbinic metaphor which spoke of the ‘yoke of the Law’.  We will see some of this in the two remaining readings of this week.  Jesus did not have much time for this kind of religion.  He invites us rather to come to him and experience comfort and consolation.

Jesus invites us to take on his yoke instead.  A yoke can be heavy, but it makes it easier for an ox to pull a cart or a plough.  Jesus’ yoke is the yoke of love.  On the one hand, it restricts us from acting in certain ways, but at the same time it points us in the right direction.  In the long run, it has a liberating effect.  It is not unlike the idea of the “narrow gate” which Jesus invites us to go through rather than follow the wide road to nowhere (Matt 7:13-14).

Jesus asks us to learn from him in his gentleness and humility.  This was in stark contrast to the severity and arrogance of other religious leaders.  Not only are we to experience the gentleness of Jesus, we are also to practise it in our own dealings with others.

Another lovely idea that has been expressed arises from the observation that it was quite common for farmers to use double yokes, with two animals pulling a cart together. The thought is that Jesus is offering to share his yoke with me, so that Jesus and I will pull together and thus split the work. In any case, Jesus assures us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

Jesus expects us to give all of ourselves to him, but when we do so, we discover that what he asks is absolutely right for us.  To follow Jesus is not to carry a great weight, but to experience a great sense of liberation. If we have not found that experience yet, then we are not yet carrying the yoke of Jesus.

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Thursday of Week 15 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on Isaiah 26:7-9,12,16-19

We have today a beautiful prayer for judgement to come soon. It is the prayer of one who wants to follow closely the Lord’s way:

The way of the righteous is level;
straight is the path of the righteous that you clear.

His one longing is to be close to his Lord:

…your name and your renown
are the soul’s desire.

This contrasts strongly with the cruel and materialistic world of yesterday’s reading.

The next phrase is also a lovely one and one which we could make our own prayer:

My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.

We speak today of ‘seeking God in all things’, in every person, in every experience, in every situation.  This is where our lives get their true meaning:

For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

It is the judgements of God which throw light on what is really good and true and just.

The upright person too totally accepts those judgements and decisions of God:

O Lord, may you ordain peace for us,
for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us.

The good person has nothing to fear: good deeds will bring their own reward; evil deeds will bring their consequences too.  In either case, the good experience peace because, whatever happens, they are in touch with God’s love.

The pains that follow from sinful acts are accepted:

O Lord, in distress they sought you;
they poured out a prayer
when your chastening was on them.

Everything, absolutely everything—be it good or bad, pleasant or painful, as Paul reminds us, works together for the ultimate good of those who love God. Those without that love are left pained and puzzled.  Those with love find peace in every experience.

In this passage, the prophet also speaks with regret of how the people have not lived up to their commitments. He may be referring to the Assyrian oppression.

Israel was intended to be “a light for the nations” (see Isaiah 42:6 and 9:2) but:

We have won no victories on earth,
and no one is born to inhabit the world.

Jesus will teach us in the Gospels that his followers are also called to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world”.  We are to let people see our goodness so that they may be drawn to love and glorify God. But by their behaviour, Isaiah says that God’s people failed in this regard.

And we Christians, too, would have to admit to frequent failure. In these days, we are as likely to turn people away from Christ as towards him. It is time for us, as it was for the people that Isaiah addressed, to bring the dead, the spiritually dead, back to life. And then:

Your dead shall live; their corpses shall rise.

Let us pray that our land be transformed from one of “corpses” to one that has and gives life.

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