Walking with the Lord....
Walking with the Lord....
Walking with the Lord…
During the days of the Second Vatican Council, Pope St. John XXIII used to submit all his anxieties to God with this prayer every night: “Lord, Jesus, I’m going to bed. It's your Church. Take care of it!” Intellectually we all know that we are safe in the presence of the Lord. Do we completely trust and depend on him?
In the first reading, Prophet Zechariah consoles the Jews in their suffering under the Greeks and promises that their God who is meek and humble will come on a donkey and establish peace. In those days, the king used a donkey for ceremonial rides in times of peace and a horse during wartime, indicating that the purpose of the King in Israel was not imperialism but justice and fidelity to a higher, invisible King — God. The donkey represented simplicity, stability, and peaceful days of rest. Prophet told them that the Davidic king will ride into Jerusalem in the manner of Solomon. Prophet says that God is going to save them not only from exile but ultimately the promise is about the coming of Christ – the prince of peace. This prefiguring reference also occurs in Psalm 24:7-10. We see this same passage in the Gospel of Matthew 21:5, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Jesus' entry to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and be raised. His entry into the city in such a way is to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah. He brings us salvation by the “blood of the covenant.”
We see Jesus praying several different times in the Gospel. He prays in the Garden of Gethsemane in the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, and Luke; we see him praying to the Father in his high priestly prayer in John 17. The first part of today’s Gospel is Jesus’ thanksgiving prayer. Prior to this passage, Jesus talks about the unrepentant cities. While several towns reject Christ, some people, including disciples, trust in him with the simplicity of infants.
Then Jesus says that “No one knows who the Father is except for the Son.” In the Old Testament on certain occasions, God is compared to a father, like in the book of Deuteronomy, or in the book of Sirach. Jesus here is saying something more profound. He is saying that in his deepest mystery, the first person of the Holy Trinity is the Father, and he is eternally Son. When Jesus is being rejected by these Galilean cities, they are not just rejecting the Messiah, the king of Israel, the long-awaited king; but they are rejecting this great mystery of the Trinity itself, of the divine sonship of Christ.
The second part of the Gospel for today is the heart of Jesus. Jesus invites disciples to follow and learn from him. Matthew (11:28) Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” And “My yoke is easy, and my burden light." This Gospel passage from Matthew is similar to Ben Sirach’s invitation to learn wisdom and submit to her yoke (Sir 51:23, 26). This passage reinforces Jesus’ self-identification as “wisdom”.
Yoke does not sound good; it is a burden. Well, it turns out that sometimes farm animals will be unequally yoked. For training purposes, a farmer might yoke a bullock with an ox. The ox pulls the entire load while the bullock walks next to him. Once the bullock is trained, they share the burden. "My yoke," Jesus says, "is easy and my burden light." When we walk with Jesus in love, our burden will be easy. Walking together in love is not easy, it needs a rhythm. We need to learn from Jesus. It is a process; it is a journey to make.
Christ is companionate towards those who suffer and carry a heavy heart. When we try to carry all of our burdens by ourselves, it becomes so hard. Christ here offers to carry it with us in imitation of him. Jesus doesn't want to just be humble and gentle himself, he wants us to take up the yoke of humility and gentleness and he will help us to carry our burdens and to carry our crosses so that we can follow him. He invites them to prayer with the assurance of peace and serenity.
We are called not only to find peace, refreshment, and rest for ourselves, but also to live the kind of life through which others, too, may find God’s peace, God’s refreshing grace, and the joy of placing their lives in God’s hands.