For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.’” (Matthew 11:30).
I heard a homily the other day and in it the priest was talking about burdens.
The Gospel that day was the Gospel about those who are heavy burdened… “‘Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.’” (Matthew 11:28-30).
And he began his homily with a funny little story, that went just like this…
A man was helping his mother to move from one house to her new house, which was a few blocks down the street. He was a strong young man and was quite happy to help his mother with the move. Eventually all of his mother’s things were taken from her old house and carefully carried to her new house, just a short walk away. But there was an old, wooden wardrobe left inside his mother’s bedroom and it was simply too heavy for the young man to carry. And so, his mother told him to go and call his younger brother and ask his brother to help him move the wardrobe. And so, the young man went to call his brother and their mother walked to the new house to wait for the men there. Finally, after some time, the mother saw the young man carrying the wardrobe alone – sweating and panting – down the street towards the new house. “Where is your bother?” She asked, “I thought I told you to call him to help you.” The young man replied, “He is heling me. He is holding the hangers inside the wardrobe while I carry it.”
And though it is a ridiculous and funny story, it occurred to me during that homily that it is also a very important story in light of the Gospel.
You see, so many times the burden that I have found myself carrying seems unbearably heavy. And just like the young man in the story, sometimes, I too do crazy things that increase my burden rather than reducing it – possibly because I am afraid that my burden will grow.
You see, it is true that I have a burden – we all do – that is the result of the fall of humanity when Adam and Eve decided to reject the Holy Will of God in preference for their own. But that burden is like the burden of a wing for a bird. While the bird walks around on the wground, their wings are cumbersome, heavy and a little bit inconvenient. However, when a bird does what it was meant to do – when it flies – its wings allow it to soar.
And I have been thinking of that today as I have been reflecting on my burdens. For they seem so cumbersome to me today because I am like a bird hopping around on the ground. If only I would “Take HIS yoke upon me, and learn from HIM… For HIS yoke is easy, and HIS burden is light...’” (Matthew 11:30). For then I would have nothing to fear…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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