Thursday of the
Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Exodus 3:13-20; Matthew 11:28-30)
In Spencer Tracy’s classic portrayal of Fr. Flanagan in
the movie “Boys Town,” a boy presents himself to the priest with a smaller boy
on his back. Perhaps not to alarm the
priest, the boy says, “He’s not heavy, Father, he’s my brother.” The lad’s statement echoes Jesus’ message in
today’s gospel.
The “yoke” to which Jesus refers in the passage was a
common metaphor used by the rabbis for the Law.
One is yoked to God who guides the person to salvation. That Jesus’ yoke is “easy” will sound incongruous
because he makes demands that go beyond the trying mandates of the Law: love
your enemy; don’t lust after women, etc.
But it is not really hard because Jesus who loves us will help us all
along the way.
We should not fear but rather revel when challenges face
us on every side. It is time to redouble
our prayer to the Lord. He will graciously
see us through the crisis.
