‘and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

‘ac fe gewch orffwystra i’ch enaid. Y mae fy iau i yn hawdd ei dwyn, a’m baich i yn ysgafn.’ (Mt 11:29-30)

No matter what you do in life, there is always someone who will find fault with your actions. John the Baptist lived a simple ascetic life, but he is accused of being possessed by a demon. On the other hand, Jesus eats and drinks with what are perceived as the ‘wrong sort of people’ and is accused of being a drunkard and a glutton. Both approaches certainly have their place in the Christian life: feasting and fasting are part of who and what we are and do. They are both something that Jesus did and something that we should emulate in our own lives. The people of Israel, however, are not searching for a golden mean, the midway between two extreme positions. They are simply unable or unwilling to accept either the difficult moral demands or the all-consuming joy of the Kingdom of God. ‘Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds’ (Mt 11:19). Both John the Baptist and Our Lord bear witness to the truth of the Kingdom of God. However, when we are worried about being seen associating with people who are seen as being beyond the pale and ‘not like us’: then we know that something is wrong. To follow Christ is to go against worldly conventions. Christians are called to recognize the value of all people, whatever their social standing.

In the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, the concept that someone is somehow better, and morally superior, leads to the conclusion that they don’t really think that they need God. Such people think that they are ok; that they are doing just fine thank you very much. The self-righteous attitude of the Pharisees is, unfortunately, alive and well, and all around us. Jesus, however, associates with sinners for the simple reason that they are people who know their need for God, and, rather than being self-righteous, they are humble. This is because they are aware of their need for God’s forgiveness and help. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus’ teaching begins with gratitude. He gives thanks to God the Father, the Lord of Heaven and Earth. In the prayer He gives us Jesus starts by recognising both who and what God is — the beginning and end of all things. This is a model for our prayers and our lives as Christians. We need to be GRATEFUL people. We are the inheritors of God’s love and forgiveness — something we should be thankful for.

This is why Jesus reveals the truth to children, and to those who are seen by society as being weak and foolish. Simple, trusting souls know their need of God. The key then is humility. For this our primary example is the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ. God humbled himself to share our humanity, so that we might share His divinity. Through being reliant upon God, and not ourselves, we can be rid of the ego, the sense of pride which says, ‘you can do it on your own’. Instead we need to put our trust in God. We are in Jesus’ hands, and we can rely upon Him, safe in the knowledge that He will lovingly guide us. We cannot win our way to Heaven, or gain salvation through our own efforts, but rather in and through Christ: through our Baptism, nourished by His Word and His Body and Blood.

Jesus’ message is a simple one, ‘Come to me all who labour and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest.’ (Mt 11:28) Christ provides us with all that we long for. This is the refreshment spoken of by King David in Psalm 23:1-2, ‘The Lord is my shepherd : therefore can I lack nothing. He shall feed me in a green pasture : and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.’ Ours is a God who keeps his promises to us, and these commitments are fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the Word made Flesh, the fulfilment of all Holy Scripture. In his Introduction to the Devout Life in 1609, St Francis de Sales wrote:

‘Learn of me,’ Jesus said, ‘for I am meek and humble of heart.’ Humility perfects us towards God, mildness and gentleness towards our neighbour.

But be careful that mildness and humility are in your heart, for one of the great wiles of the enemy is to lead people to be content with external signs of these virtues, and to think that because their words and looks are gentle, therefore they themselves are humble and mild, whereas in fact they are otherwise. In spite of their show of gentleness and humility, they start up in wounded pride at the least insult or annoying word.

St Francis de Sales Introduction to the Devout Life III:8

Christ calls us to take His yoke upon ourselves. To do so is an act of submission, becoming like oxen pulling a plough, labouring as beasts of burden. This image naturally leads us to think of Jesus carrying His Cross to Calvary. Christ bears our burdens, and calls us to follow Him, so that we might experience the joy of the Kingdom of God. 

There is something truly refreshing about the simplicity of the message: Christ says to each and every one of us, to the whole world, that we can and should lay down our burdens and find life in all its fullness in Him. Our Lord calls us to reject worldly and selfish ways. Jesus is inaugurating a gentle, humble Kingdom; one where love and co-operation combat power and domination. When we follow Jesus, and walk the way of the Cross, we discover the joy, peace and freedom of His Kingdom.

So my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us turn away from the ways of the world, the ways of selfishness, and pride, and instead find our rest in Christ. Let us take His yoke, and bear His burden, in the joyous new life of God’s Kingdom. Let us encourage others to do so, that they may know Jesus’ love and His peace, and come to believe in and give glory to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Duw Dad, Duw y Mab, a Duw yr Ysbryd Glân. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.