Thursday July 20, 2023

“Jesus’ yoke binds us to his outreach ministry and to his in-reach ministry. He serves us while we’re helping him serve others.”

Good News Reflection for:

Thursday of the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of Saint Apollinaris, bishop and martyr
July 20, 2023

Today’s Prayer:

Lord: help me understand that it is not through my own efforts that I find peace, calm and rest. May I discover Your path in each labor, and may I go back to it whenever I turn away. Thank You Lord, because in it, I can find the longed-for shelter. Amen.

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Today’s Readings:

Exodus 3:13-20
Ps 105:1, 5, 8-9, 24-27
Matthew 11:28-30
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072023.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-july-20-2023

Weighed down or lifted up?

Do you feel lifted up by wearing the yoke of Jesus or is it so heavy that it weighs you down?

In the midst of plowing through our own personal struggles, other people need our help and our unconditional, patient, going-the-extra-mile love. If we’re yoked to Jesus, we have to respond like he would. It’s no wonder we feel burdened and exhausted. Yet Jesus says in our Gospel reading today, “Come to me when you are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you.”

Ahhh, that sounds good, relaxing, and restorative. But then why does he add: “Take my yoke upon you”? How can we find the recovery we need while locked into his yoke of ministry and evangelization? A yoke is for doing hard work. Who wants to be yoked into hard labor like oxen churning up the hard-packed soil of some huge field? I get tired just visualizing this!

The restful peace that we long for is already within us, available every moment, because Jesus lives in us. We yoke ourselves to him, not to be dragged around and forced into hard labor, but to benefit from his strength. If we freely choose to serve as he serves and plow what he plows, we’re carried along by his supernatural strength. We are partnered with him, but he does the heaviest labor. His yoke not only binds us to his outreach ministry, it also binds us to his in-reach ministry. He serves us while we’re helping him serve others.

When we’re in pain because someone has made our work difficult, Jesus is beside us, kissing our wounds and affirming our goodness. When we’re challenged by a huge undertaking and we feel overwhelmed, Jesus guides us as he pulls ahead to keep us going in the right direction. When we feel tired, Jesus stops the fieldwork and sits down so that we can sit down too, and then he ministers to us, restoring our energy (unless we keeping pulling and pushing because we think we cannot afford to take time off).

When burdens feel so heavy that we cannot handle them, something’s amiss. We’re doing more than God wants us to do. Our priorities are wrong. Being yoked to Jesus is a relationship that only works well if we pay attention to him so that we follow him instead of straining to go off in a different direction or at too fast of a speed. Trying to take the lead is a struggle that wears us out and never succeeds unless the yoke breaks.

When we feel worn out, God is warning us: Slow down! Simplify your life! Make a change! Spend more time in prayer listening to me! Trust me! My ways are better than you think they are!

Jesus knows how to energize us and strengthen us. He knows what to give us so that our needs are met for the tasks ahead. Being yoked to Jesus means serving others the same way he serves us, and nothing more than that. Nor anything less.

For more on this subject use our WordBytes, “Overcoming Weariness” @ https://wordbytes.org/food-for-faith/overcoming-weariness/

© 2023 by Terry A. Modica

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