In Matthew’s Gospel, we find an image that carries a lot of weight—if I may be permitted a play on the image.  Jesus speaks about a “yoke.”  A “yoke” is a kind of harness ordinarily made of wood that would be placed across the shoulders of an animal—like an ox—and that would then allow the animal to work hard, but also without pain/strain.  In the Gospel, when Jesus says that his yoke is “easy” what that means in context, is that it is well-fitted.  In addition, Jesus suggests that we yoke ourselves with him—it is a double harness—we pull and move with Jesus at our side who moves and pulls with us.  Yes, his yoke is easy and that makes his burden light.

What about our time and us?  Do you feel yourself as exhausted by “labor,” and being “heavy burdened”?  Each of us knows what those words can mean in our experience—how they change with years, health, and added or lessened responsibility.  We can also appreciate what they mean in the lives of so many people who work hard without much reward and who carry all kinds of burdens, some of which we would fear to take up.  The Lord invites these, our brothers and sisters, to draw near and he does the same for us.  Sometimes we pull these others with us as we come closer to the Lord—like the paralytic is carried by his friends to the feet of Jesus, or the Syro-Phoenician woman brings the needs of her daughter.  One of the places in which we draw near to the Lord is in our prayer, but especially in the sacrament in which we hear the Word of the Lord and we share in his body and blood.

Yes, the Lord promises to share the load with us.  Note that the yoke that Jesus brings is not a removal of the trials and difficulties of our life, but an offer to enable us to carry the burden with greater ease and meaning, an offer to pull alongside us in dealing with these challenges.

We learn from the Lord as we listen to his word and as we take it to heart.  We come to understand how we must connect ourselves to him with a yoke that is fitted to our time and place and for our shoulders.  With it, we can carry the responsibilities and opportunities of this day.  Let us draw near with confidence and openness to the Lord who summons us to rely on him and work together alongside him.