Reflection for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time…July 9, 2023

by Linda Fitzgerald, Notre Dame Associate

Zechariah 9:9-10; Psalm 145: 1-2, 8-11, 13-14 and Romans 8:9,11-13  Matthew 11:25-30

In our gospel this week there are three very favorite verses of mine.  Matthew 11:28-30   “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, yourselves.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

We know that a yoke is used for animals or over the neck of a human being to help carry or pull heavy objects by evenly distributing the weight or to show great submissiveness.

I reflected about my beloved, late, maternal grandfather who farmed and then for almost 30 years built wooden boxcars for the Burlington Railroad and with his wife, raised two little children while in his sixties.  He plowed his fields with yoked animals and carried heavy wood across his shoulders at the railroad.  I saw him when I was a little girl, in the heat of summer, carrying and enduring that wood.

What yokes do we need to allow Jesus to break for us: power, pleasure, selfishness, rescuing, addictions to so many things, etc.

Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light because of the supernatural strength, joy, peace and more that He lavishes upon the one who is yoked with Him.

The first reading from the prophet Zechariah includes “Thus says the LORD: See, your king shall come to you, a just savior is he, meek (does not denote weakness, but it does mean behaving with goodness and kindness, showing strength, serenity, healthy self-worth and self-control) …and there will be no wars.”  How strong and meek is our Lord.

From Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary: “The prophet breaks forth into a joyful representation of the coming of the Messiah…But His kingdom is spiritual not advanced by outward force or carnal weapons.”  “He shall proclaim peace to the nations. He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim (10 tribes – with no wars) and the horse from Jerusalem (Judah and Benjamin with no wars).  His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river (Euphrates) to the ends of the earth.”

And what of my precious grandfather and grandmother who “yoked” their lives and souls to our precious Lord and Savior?  My heart smiles reflecting on their immense joy and perfect peace.